A Wiser Generation
by Thatgirlinthepajamas
Summary: They grow up as people on either side of a mirror, eventually seeking a little bit of each other in the other. Tobirama hunts, Chieko evades, escapes, runs- Soldiers never fight for the same war until they're faced with the admonishing power of...cowardice. I love Tobirama, but lay no claim to Masashi Kishimoto's characters save for my OC!
1. Chapter 1

A flock of dark-feathered birds flew overhead, casting patterned shadows over the grass as a girl watched from afar, wonder in her eyes.

Children wondered, children watched, children learned.

It was a day of bright sunshine and a cool, sweet breeze that smelt distinctly of pine.

"Chieko!" Somebody called from behind her. The little girl sat still, obstinately in the grass, her small hands fisting into it as she ignored the maidens call.

"Chieko! Chieko Uchiha!"

Chieko's lower lip protruded and quivered as two hands hooked themselves beneath her arms and lifted her up. She let out a shrill, angry scream and quarrelled with her caretaker.

"Ehhh Chieko- Chi-kun, come now. It's time to return. It's not safe."

Little Chieko sobbed angrily and relented, but in her heart she was rebelling. It was perfectly safe if the birds were flying. She was put down onto her short, stubby feet and herded into a group of little children. Mostly girls.

Some of the other girls her age were taken away to be taught how to be like the adults around her. Chieko had never been considered even. She was not skilled and at the raw age of five, it made her envious of the other girls who had gone from being wide eyed to sharp eyed and silent. Chieko wondered what they were taught exactly.

"Chieko!" Scolded one of the elderly women, seizing her arm and pulling her along to keep up with the others, "You always misbehave and you never listen to us! Stupid child!"

Chieko did not look up at the old woman, pridefully. Like every Uchiha, she was proud. They never had to be taught to be proud, they just were. She stared ahead, her wide grey eyes watering as she relented to not looking up at the old woman that was pulling her along.

They passed a group of other children, heading in the direction from where she'd been dragged away. To be taught, Chieko assumed.

Her eyes met those of a boy a few years older than her, his eyes were sharp and observant and she knew straight away who he was. Absent-mindedly, she put her thumb in her mouth and looked away pridefully. She was as good as them at something else. She'd find out what it was eventually.

She watched people as she was pulled along, thumb in mouth, eyes wide. She saw in the distance, her oldest brother. She had four. Or five. She couldn't remember. She supposed she had five _once._ But they must have lost one of them.

She grinned and waved her pudgy arm but he did not see and the old woman pulled her further away until Chieko could no longer see him.

At night, they lay on small tatami mats in sorted rooms. All the children were divided into groups, depending on whose family they were. Chieko was in a room full of, presumably, her cousins. Some of the children whispered to each other, some misbehaved and pinched each other under the blankets, giggling. Chieko lay in a corner and watched the door, waiting for her mother to come. When the mothers arrived, all the children went silent and excitedly sat up or remained lying down as the mothers looked for their children.

Chieko's mother was, as she liked to think, very pretty, even by Uchiha standards. Her hair was pinned up in a bun and her neck was petite, she looked like she was made of porcelain actually. She smiled softly to her daughter as she sat by her and kissed her forehead.

Chieko loved meeting her mother, she would tell her about all the things she had seen, like how she had seen Misaki-niisama on the way and he hadn't seen her at all. And how the silly care-takers didn't know that seeing birds in the sky meant there was no immediate threat and so on and on.

Her mother would laugh and listen, often her eyes would twinkle in amusement at some of the things her daughter had the knack of observing.

It wasn't long before she'd be learning to take care of soldiers, the way her mother did. Chieko knew one of her brothers was very important and that had given her parents and her other brothers some reason to be…important. But Chieko never quiet understood why Misaki-niisama was so important. It made her angry but only because she could not say she was important for something.

Within a month, Chieko was being forced to learn how to throw kunai, control and manipulate chakra. The fire techniques were drilled into her head, she was taught how to run, how to conceal herself, how to be a kunoichi of dignity and honour. How to be an Uchiha.

She was huffing, exhausted, as she sparred with a boy her age. He had punched her in the stomach and she had angrily been evading all his attacks, kneeing him in the spot she knew all boys hurt more than girls.

She wasn't an unfair fighter. That wasn't the problem. She just didn't enjoy it.

Then came the day she was put onto a squad and sent out to fight. She was 12.

Chieko had been scared of many things but at this point, she was confused about what she should be feeling.

The other children with her were excited, happy, adrenaline-pumped. She felt it influencing her but at the same time, as they slipped into the darkness, she felt a dark fear plunder her courage.

As she heard the sounds of whipping flames in the distance and the heart-wrenching sounds of warring humanity, she felt her courage slip away completely into the dark of the woods.

Soon she was surrounded with noise and orange, burning bright light. One of the children by her fell as the others took on the ninja around them. Chieko watched, panicking. She couldn't budge and something hit her, knocked the breath out of her, she rolled to a tree and her head crashed into it and she screamed in pain. There were more men fighting near her, not too far she saw the flame-lit face of her eldest brother as he tore his arm through somebody, through another human being.

Chieko sat up shakily, bile rising in her throat as red dripped down his arm and he dropped the body. The corpse's face was staring at her, eyes wide and mouth frozen stiff in an agonizing, silent scream. It was watching her with a fearsome malice, like it knew she was running from the fight. It knew she was a coward.

Chieko felt her breath falter. The smoke around her was choking her. But she couldn't pull her eyes away. There were more people, more fighting, more _dead_ people. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the corpses gaze. She almost expected herself to apologize to it for her cowardice. In her mind, it's expression turn to one of accusation and anger. _She_ had to fight. _She_ had to die too, just like he had. But as smoke filled her lungs, she had to move.

She stumbled over the corpse, her mouth parted as she went, crouching low. She was shaking and no matter how hard she tried, she could not control it. In the direction she was heading, everything was black. So black it melted with the sky. It was dark everywhere, as if she was stepping into the worldly embodiment of darkness. The moon that loomed over head tinged slightly red, the sky seemed to turn maroon. And then she was seeing a man leap at her and she moved to dodge, avoiding him cleanly. He moved again and she ducked just in time, lashing out to kick his knee-cap. He growled, his armour protecting him.

Being a small girl, she slipped around dodging his attacks easily. But her reflexes were quicker, she didn't realize it until she found herself plunging a kunai into his throat before he could spit water. The body crumpled and she fell with it, rolling down an ashy slope with the corpse. When she hit the bottom, she had hurt her head again and she bounced back onto her feet shakily. Seeing nothing around her, she rubbed her face, only feel to feel the sticky, ash-mixed blood come in contact with her face. She gasped and her hands quivered. Even as she stared in the strangely illuminated darkness at her hands, she felt her body alert of all things around her. Something made her duck and roll, dodging a much taller enemy. She let out a startled cry which startled her attacker. He looked at her, alien rose eyes meeting…deathly crimson.

He hissed out her clan-name like it was an accusation and she frowned in confusion, lunging out of his way as he attacked her, his silvery hair making him easy to see.

Not that she needed her normal eyesight. 

He continued to come at her with physical attacks until he'd tired her out. Then he moved his hands so quickly, they would have been a blur to her if it weren't for her eyes. She hadn't realized her Sharingan had surfaced until she found herself combating his jutsu with her own, a huge cloud of steam erupting where her fire met his water. She held up her forearm to shield her face from the singing steam. But where she stopped to defend herself from the steam, he cut through it and launched himself at her, she twisted away, his blade cutting her side. She whimpered, falling away from him.

Huffing, she wanted to surrender. She was stupid, she was prideful but stupid. She wasn't honourable or skilled. She did not want to die in such a pathetic place.

"Stop! I don't want to fight you!"

Her girlish voice, soft and afraid made the rose-eyed boy freeze. He watched her with his stony expression, stalking towards her slowly, like a predator. She couldn't sit up.

"Please." She huffed, "I don't want to fight you."

He seemed to sneer, but it was gone in a second. Poker-face, she noted. It meant he was emotionally cautious. He began to approach her, striding purposefully.

She felt tears brim her eyes and slide down her face, "I only fought to defend myself." She choked out, craning her neck to stare at him as he paused, halfway to her. There was only the sound of a distant battle, metal clashing and jutsus whirling. A distant world from the singed darkness she lay in.

His voice cut through her almost-revery, cold as steel, boyish and young. He could have been Misaki-niisama's age. But somehow Chieko thought he was younger. She felt that he was guarded, calculated and _cautious._ He was an adult-like child.

"You're an Uchiha. Why would I spare something like you?"

She didn't have an answer to that and she clenched her mouth shut. Her lower lip quivered. He was just standing over her now, staring down at her. She wondered how much he could see in the dark. Suddenly feeling her pride revived, she bit out an awkward and stuttered retort.

"W-We're not things. We're just ch-children."

He didn't respond to that. She saw his dark form move, the blade reflecting the fires in the distance where the battle was carrying on. Recoiling, she closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek, wondering if it was already time for her to die.

But the blade never came down on her.

He was gone, the immense presence of his chakra vanishing within seconds. And Chieko lay there, bleeding out as her face paled and she felt herself go cold. She swallowed a lump in her throat, concentrating on her chakra. She knew how the medics used it to heal. Maybe she could try that and save herself for she loathed to die bleeding out after brokering herself away from death.


	2. The Love of Family

When the survivors had been brought back to camp to be healed, Misaki was immensely relieved to find his baby sister alive and somehow, healed.

She had lost consciousness just before healing herself, said one of the medics. Madara was peering over his friends shoulder.

"It was her first time." Misaki supplied, as if it was an adequate explanation for her being far from the battle. But they had found a body near her. One.

Madara did not say anything, shifting away. He understood Misaki's need to watch over her, she was the youngest of five, Misaki had lost his sixth sibling many years ago. She was younger than Izuna- that much he knew. Where Izuna was 15, she was 12.

She had activated her Sharingan many years ago, Madara recalled Misaki's excitement and pride- but she had done it by accident and the family had silenced the news, thinking the girl would not do it again.

' _Women are almost always underestimated.'_ He mused to himself, pausing for a moment in his reverie to note the blue-black shade of the girl's hair. She was like her mother.

Not wanting to intrude, Madara left Misaki in the company of his sister. He had wanted to say goodbye to her before he left to attend official clan business, Madara wanted to honour his friend's request.

Upon waking, Chieko was admonished by her doting mother, her oldest brother finally within arms' reach of her. She was a much loved child as well as a loving one. Once Misaki said his farewell, she kissed his cheek shyly and made him promise he would see her again. She watched silently as he said good-bye to their mother. Watching adults say farewell made Chieko feel troubled, they always hid their sadness but it seemed to glow around them like a dark halo. The little girl's thoughts turned to her family.

Her other brothers were posted in different Uchiha camps and in the twelve years of her life, she had never met any of them save for Misaki. Chieko had remained with her mother, who had remained with Tajima Uchiha's wife, who had remained in turn, where Madara and Izuna had remained, until she had taken her own life some years before Cheiko was born. There was not a day of her childhood where she hadn't at least heard the mention of Misaki doing this or that, or going here with Madara-sama or Izuna-sama. Chieko suddenly felt her cheeks burn in envy.

Soon Cheiko was taken back by her mother to their small tent in another part of the camp. On the way, she explained to her mother how she had healed herself and her mother nodded silently. The silence remained between them when they entered the homely tent, Cheiko relenting to watching her mother prepare a cup of chamomile tea for her. As she handed her daughter the warm cup, she curtly informed her of her having activated her Sharingan during the fighting.

Cheiko, vaguely aware of her advanced abilities, nodded, staring at the steaming golden liquid in the cup. She could feel her mother's eyes on her. She peered up at her through the strands of hair that hung over her forehead.

' _Why do you do that?'_

Instead of asking however, she smiled at the older woman. Her mother returned the smile in kind, leaning down to brush her lips over Chieko's warm head. She turned away to pick up her sewing from near the mat. Chieko lost herself in thought for a few more minutes.

' _Why are all the Senjus so colourful?'_ She nearly snorted at the image that flashed in her mind, of colourful soldiers running haplessly around a large burning field. ' _At least we Uchihas are consistent in our colourings.'_ The fact could not be denied, Uchihas were always dark-haired and either brown or onyx-eyed. This consistency added to Chieko's reasons to be proud of her clan and her chest puffed up slightly, unaware that her mother had been observing her daughter with a bemused glint in her dark eyes. 

"Mother, why do the Senju have white hair?"

"All humans age to have white hair if they're lucky enough to not lose it all."

"…But mother, _is_ there a _young_ Senju with white hair?"

She thought for a moment that maybe he had been imaginary, a colourful soldier like the ones she had envisioned earlier. Or maybe he was an angel. She snorted again, finding the thought humorous.

Her mother was sipping her own cup of chamomile, expecting this question to be thrown at her at some point. She placed it down on the table by her knees as she stared calculatingly at her daughter.

"Yes, there may be some of the sort. They have mixed blood with the Hatake clan."

"Ah," said Chieko sagely, "That explains it then."

Cheiko nodded mostly to herself, taking a sip of her tea as she absentmindedly tried to recall the young man's face. Her mother continued to eye her, hugging her cup in her hands and relishing the warmth. Curiosity took her for a moment,

"Why do you ask? Did you encounter someone of the sort?"

"Yes." Replied Chieko, looking dazedly across the tent, at an embroidered cushion. It had the traditional clan symbol, an _uchiwa_ sewn onto it. Her mother was not satisfied and continued to probe,

"And?"

Taking a moment to exhale heavily, as if she'd told this story a billion times, Chieko replied with dramatic weariness. "He fought me. That's all."

"Did you kill him?"

The question startled Cheiko and she attempted to conceal her surprise the way she noted most adults would. Her eyebrows however, had already shot up and her large eyes had widened to saucers.

' _Such an unreliable facial muscles.'_

Her mother's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, she responded to her child's shock in a tactful yet parenting tone, as if she were simply correcting a mistake.

"The Senju are our enemies Cheiko, they will kill us without a second thought."

"But-"

"But what? They would never let the opportunity to kill an Uchiha slip out of their hands."

Her mother's voice was suddenly sharp and Cheiko inwardly recoiled. "Of course, mother." She said, her voice almost like a sob. ' _But you're wrong ma, I have proof-'_ Her thought was interrupted by a soft hand on her cheek. Her mother tilted her face up to bring her daughter's gaze back to hers.

"You have to protect yourself out there. I don't want to lose you." Her voice was stern, but concern brimmed her eyes and Cheiko could only nod reassuringly, "I won't die so easily mother, I'm so good at avoiding fights, you'd be surprised."

Her mother laughed, but if only she _knew._

Far, far from the Uchiha, within the safe vicinity of the Senju compound, Tobirama heaved a sigh of _relief._ He had to admit, he had never looked at Uchiha the way he had today. That girl, the girl had been afraid, she'd told him they were only children.

' _That witch.'_

He seethed slightly, huffing and looking away from the group of men he was with. His lower lip protruding stubbornly. He was no _child._ She was.

It was obvious to Tobirama that it was her first fight, her first time on the battlefield and she was lucky it was _him_ she'd begged for mercy.

' _She never begged specifically. She did it with those big, stupid eyes-'_

Hashirama was laughing at something and it distracted Tobirama from his chain of thought. He glanced at his brother and their eyes met.

He was always relieved when he saw his brother after a battle. In fact, he never let his brother get too far from him. He felt, somehow, that he was responsible for having his brother's back. Not because his brother was the oldest, but because they were _brothers._

Hashirama noted the strange emotion in his younger brother's eyes. It made him curious.

When they went to bed, Hashirama rolled onto his side to meet the sight of his brother staring hard at the ceiling. He couldn't help himself, and he usually never did, firing away all the questions that crossed his mind.

"What happened today?"

Tobirama turned his head in response towards Hashirama, one eyebrow raised, response at the ready.

"Nothing, why?"

"You look like you're contemplating the purpose of the universe."

Tobirama looked back at the ceiling and ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't worry about it Niisan."

"Was it a woman? Did you see a beautiful, dangerous woman and fall head over heels for her?" Hashirama was wriggling his fingers teasingly at his brother. Tobirama only stared at him from the corner of his eyes, annoyed.

' _Not a woman, a bug-eyed, sharingan wielding witch disguised as a 12 year old acting like a five year old in the middle of a massive burning field of war.'_ However, instead of voicing this, he deflected Hashirama's question with one of his own.

"How atrocious would that be niisan?"

"Not very atrocious, you'd have my full support." Hashirama said this sentence in a quieter voice, smiling as he placed his arms behind his head, his face fixed with a smiling expression as he lost himself in thought. Tobirama was staring at him from the corner of his eyes still and the ends of his lips twitched slightly as he rolled his eyes. Hashirama was a straight nut at times. He rolled himself over, his back to Hashirama as he shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Skip Divided

_There was only silence._

 _Contrary to popular belief, silence didn't mean it was peaceful. Silence meant death was lingering just behind that-_

Chieko was thrown out of her reverie, literally. Her body spiralled into the air and she found herself unable to control herself. But that wasn't just because of the unexpected attack, it was because of the massive Chakra pressure her enemy was exuding.

She yelled something illegible when the enemy attacked her again, missing her as she moved out of the way, sharingan burning in her eyes like embers. She felt her blood rush to her face as she pushed herself to keep her body moving with her eyes.

She was very good at dodging.

Her enemy, on the other hand, was very good at attacking and cutting down Uchihas.

When he appeared in front of her, right out of the blue, she screamed. It almost startled the man and she took the opportunity to head-butt him, only to have her forehead crash against the cold plate of his forehead protector thing.

' _Who the fuck wears that in this day and age!?'_

She clenched her teeth as his hands gripped her forearms tightly. She tried to pull herself away, twisting her fingers to complete the seal she had been forming. He pushed himself away as a flame erupted between them and he doused it immediately. Chieko narrowed her eyes. She would recognize this Senju anywhere.

She doubted, as she leapt out of the way of a large ball of water, that he remembered who she was or that he'd once spared her life.

It had been four years since then.

Chieko knew, modestly thinking, that her chances of survival were currently low and that she'd have to lead him to an area with more Uchiha soldiers in order to escape his attacks. Chieko did exactly that.

' _Toodaloo you smashingly colourfulful-'_

But he was in front of her again and she, quick to respond, dropped herself off the branch, going sideways as if she'd lost her step.

Tobirama paused, cussed under his breath and followed, his internal voice switching on to narrate for him. _This woman never holds her ground for a minute!_ On his way down, he saw her, under the branch, moving swiftly back up and breaking out into a neat, quick sprint. ' _That sneaky witch!'_

He wanted to yell in frustration, rebounding off the ground after her.

In all honesty, Tobirama wasn't even at his optimum level. He had been upset today, very upset. So upset that he was completely out of form.

Chieko was unfortunately not aware of his situation.

She was good at running and hiding and pulling off little tricks to fool people and as soon as she'd manoeuvred herself out of his sight, even though he had almost caught up, she took the chance to hide herself above the foliage.

But Tobirama's sensing abilities were sharper than any other nin on the battlefield. He went up right under her, catching her oddly around her waist as she let out a rebellious stream of angry words and-

Pulled on his hair.

He couldn't hold it in "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITCH?!"

Startled, she pulled harder. "LET ME GO YOU COLOURFUL SENJU BASTARD!"

He growled, ' _COLOURFUL? THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?'_ He was holding her by her waist as far from his body as possible, staring angrily and confusedly at her. She wasn't too tall and he held her up with her toes just barely touching the foliage beneath them.

She stopped struggling, her onyx eyes meeting his rose-red ones. ' _He's staring at me.'_

He was in fact, scrutinizing her with a strange expression on his face. That same cool, collectedness that so blatantly hid something.

' _I can distract him. I-'_ Suddenly her internal voice switched to her external one _._

"I remember him." She whispered, pulling a strange expression, as if he was some fatal error. Tobirama could have cringed.

"Who are you talking about?" He tilted his head, blanking in curiosity. She seemed to tense up like an angry sake and corrected herself.

"You. I meant you."

He frowned slightly as if she worried him. ' _How is this witch still alive?'_ Unlike Chieko, he controlled the switch from internal voice to external much better than she did. His voice cracked through the temporary silence between them.

"How are you not dead yet? Do you beg everybody to spare your life?"

She deadpanned, just as he sensed more Uchiha approaching fast.

' _I never begged you stupid, memory-altering, self-denying male.'_ She preened then, a mischievous smirk materializing on her face. Her voice was a purr.

"Let me go, or they'll think we're lovers or something."

Tobirama let go of her as if his hands had suddenly been burned and she…fell.

He heard her hit the ground and growled, his frustration maxing out as he followed.

The fighting continued, but she had slipped away, no trace of her chakra remaining.

She was an elusive scout, among the Uchiha's best.

The Senju had a track record of them that was constantly updated, names were cut off the list and new names were added. Chieko Uchiha had been on the list for seven years.

"What did you say she did again?"

Toka had a fit of laughter as Tobirama had described his encounter with the girl. He looked miffed and his day clearly was not getting any better. Toka resumed her neutral expression, nodding and listing Chieko as a sharingan user that avoided fighting.

Hashirama wasn't around and it irked his brother, as if part of him was missing. But right now he had to focus on the task at hand.

They had been creating profiles on known Uchiha fighters, recording every bit of information on fighting styles that they had witnessed.

They had started with a Tsukinowa Kumiko, whose name Tobirama had bitterly corrected to 'Kumo'. Toka had remained silent as had the other Senju. Out of respect. The two had been close friends once and secretly, allies.

When they had moved onto Chieko, Tobirama had let out a scoff, ' _Stupid, useless Uchiha witch.'_

"How do we tell Uchiha women apart? All of them look the same to me." His question wasn't directed at anyone, and his gaze seemed to turn to the roof for a moment, eyebrows raised and the corners of his lips turned downwards.

Toka gave him a bemused look and answered his question,

"This little fireball we have here is notorious for _surviving_ by running away _._ You're not the only one that's come across her on the field. "

' _Of course not.'_

He ran a hand through his hair and murmured under his breath, "That witch."


	4. Dark

Stop. Drop down. Roll.

It looked silly, but this was part of their training routine. Scouts weren't just ordinary ninja- they were tasked with carrying messages, espionage, transferring supplies- things of the sort.

Chieko was one of the better scouts, primarily because she was one of five scouts of her birth year that were still alive. In truth, she was just sneakier than everyone else.

' _Oh gee, wonder how I managed to live this long.'_

She rolled again, feeling a familiar ache in her shoulders. Some loose soil managed to crumble down the back of her loose shirt, she could feel it's slightly damp texture over her skin. They'd been at this for an hour. She bounced onto feet, hands on her hips as she called out to the fifteen youngsters that had been practising with her.

"Enough! Take fifteen minutes, then be back here!"

She let out a huff, shoulders drooping as she turned away and walked to the edge of the clearing, squatting down and staring out at her 'students' as they plopped down or stood in place, talking.

They weren't much younger than her, the oldest of them being 15. They followed orders almost like they didn't have thoughts of their own.

' _Uchihas.'_

She slowly blinked, feeling the tiredness in her eyes. She could hear the distant sound of wooden clogs scraping against burnt grass, a familiar chakra signature making itself known to everyone in the area. She noted that some of her students had turned and stood in respect. Chieko remained on the ground, prodding the bun she had tied earlier as she tucked a loose strand of ebony hair into it. A hand was suddenly on her shoulder and she glanced behind her gently, even though her heart had jumped.

"Izuna-sama." She spoke carefully, nodding her head in acknowledgment. He returned the nod.

"Chieko, I need you to take somethings east. Today."

' _Ehhhhh?! Today?'_

She raised her eyebrows in protest but he didn't let her finish, dropping a scroll onto her lap from over her shoulder.

"East huh?" Izuna did not miss that her voice seemed mournful and he gave her an incredulous look. "Where do I take it?" She picked it up in her hands, tapping the ends with her thumbs. Her reluctance did not go unnoticed, but Izuna had more pressing matters to attend to.

"You will deliver this to a small Senju encampment that will not be difficult for you to find. They will expect you."

She was suddenly standing up and gawking at him as if he were insane.

'… _..He wants you to have a death wish.'_

"I don't mean to question your orders but are you _sure you want me to take this there?"_

She immediately regretted questioning him. He fixed her with a blank, condescending stare and she felt herself shrink as he turned wordlessly to vanish, gone too quickly for her liking. A gust of burnt grass and leaves picking up with the wind where he had stood some moments ago.

' _Yep, they're trying to kill you.'_

She was definitely no diplomat, but he was already gone and she was blinking into the distance, looking a bit….stupid.

"Chieko-senpai?"

This time she jumped, angrily turning around to glare at the child that had addressed her and barking orders at him.

"Go home. You're done for now."

She hadn't meant to yell, suddenly feeling guilty as she kept her steady glare, turning it in the direction Izuna had gone.

Confused, the boy scuttled away, relaying her message to the other dark haired children.

She furrowed her eyebrows and watched them leave, following slowly.

The sun was hanging low and she narrowed her eyes at it, wondering what exactly was happening between the Senju and her clan. She realized she would have to _dress_ diplomatically instead of going all black. Which meant parading her clan crest around. Which meant attracting unwanted attention in areas.

' _This better be a damned truce offering.'_

She groaned, trudging past soldiers, the murmur of conversation floating airily around her. The sky would be turning orange soon, her favourite part of the day, when her pale clansmen all looked like they were made of terracotta and had been baked.


	5. Amaterasu

A/N: Hey everybody! Back at it with this story (suddenly revived, I feel), I thought I had uploaded a very crappy version of this chapter earlier, but thank God I didn't! **An important note to the readers**! I've updated all the previous chapters and made slight alterations to the story line. I've also repaired all the previous mistakes I made here or there (if I missed any, please let me know!) For those readers who also read Scarlet Eyes, THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY UTTER LACK OF EDITING.

Once again, I love you all, thank you so much for following this story and supporting my writing and our shared love of the Naruto universe!

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

There wasn't much she had to prepare. She always had a rucksack ready with traveling supplies and weapons. She folded her Uchiha-crested haori into it and pulled on a fresh pair of pants, lacing her wooden sandals around her ankles and a tight-fitted black shirt to wear her armour over. Unlike with other nin, scouts had special, light black plates. Chieko preferred to only wear the chest, forearm and shin plates even though it annoyed other soldiers. A not so well-protected ninja was considered an idiot.

As Chieko ducked out of her tent, she strapped her crimson sash over her right shoulder, her katana attached securely to her back while the scroll was hidden under her chest plate.

Some elders paused to stare at her as she walked passed and she consciously tucked a strand of her straight, dark hair behind her ear. It was tied in a knot above her head, letting the cool evening air lick the back of her neck. She was aware of their reasons to stare pointedly at her whenever she was nearby. She was nearly 17, she should have been looking for a husband.

' _Of course, my biological baby-making clock has been ticking away for years now.'_

Chieko wasn't interested in that, she wasn't even interested in killing the enemy, much to their dismay. Instead, as they liked to mock her, she preferred to spend her time snooping around and man-watching- writing nonsense in her scrolls about their behaviour.

It irritated her that they thought she touted nonsense, but Izuna-sama who was intelligent, ' _The only one with decent, functioning brains half the time,'_ had found use of her scroll on battlefield-behaviour and they'd made successful medic strategies that had saved several soldiers over the last few months of fighting.

' _Not that that matters to the wrinkly bastards.'_

As the sun sank behind her, she turned to see the distinct orange-red shade set over the camp and pressed her lips together tightly. She would go slowly from here, hoping that time would pass and she'd finish off this task without being killed.

It made her queasy to think she was heading towards a Senju encampment. She didn't enjoy fighting, and she hadn't killed a lot of them. She avoided it when she could, but she'd had to evade death-by-Senju quite a few times. She wondered if it would inevitably become her favourite way to die.

Weaving her way through ancient oak-trees, her eyes adjusted to the dimming light.

* * *

"We're expecting what?" Tobirama raised an eyebrow coolly, hoping his brother was somehow cracking some ridiculous prank.

' _For the love of Kami…'_

"We will receive a report from the Uchiha about the smaller settlements of smugglers between our camps. We are at war with them, but these newcomers are making business of human smuggling."

Tobirama kept his eyebrow raised and Hashirama watched him tiredly, failing to comprehend Tobirama's confusion. "They've been kidnapping children and young girls, not from our clans, but from surrounding areas. The smaller villages have made pleas."

"Why would the Uchiha be sending us a report then? It's better for their clan to sort the matter out, they protect their own."

"Both of us rely on the same smugglers for a steady income through our meagre farm produce."

' _We don't.'_

Somehow Tobirama couldn't quiet comprehend why his brother was lying to him. "You requested a report didn't you?"

' _Or is it something else?'_

Hashirama shut his eyes, exhaling as he responded. "I just wanted to see if they would respond at all. They have five days." He shrugged wistfully, fully aware that his younger brother wasn't pleased and that he didn't believe a word Hashirama was saying.

"I see."

Hashirama was jolted out of his reverie, staring wide-eyed at his brother. He had expected an outburst at least, or a verbal assault of some kind. It was now his turn to give the younger Senju an incredulous look.

"Are you alright?"

Tobirama shrugged in response, turning to leave his brothers tent. However, he paused as he stood, considering his words carefully.

"I can't comprehend why you asked me to kill her." Hashirama now had a guarded look, but his brother continued. "Kumiko should never have gotten tangled up in this. Do you think Madara will cater to your idea of peace now? Those were childhood dreams, pipe dreams. Now that they know about our spy, they will never listen to a word you have to say. Stop trying and making us look like fools."

' _That Madara Uchiha isn't even a clan leader yet. What are you thinking niisama?'_

Hashirama remained silent as his brother exited, watching the wind rustle his silver strands. He understood his ototo's aversion. He too was concerned, Hashirama was not clan leader yet and he could not make diplomatic actions of his own, even if they were covert operations.

Toka, who had remained in the tent silently, sighed and gave Hashirama an apologetic expression. "He's not handling Kumiko's situation too well, shall I speak to him?" The man took a moment to respond, pinching the bridge of his nose as the silence suddenly felt heavy over his shoulders.

"No, he will eventually come to terms with it. Let him be for now."

Hashirama understood that the heart needed time, especially one that refused to acknowledge itself like Tobirama's.

* * *

Chieko had settled down in the dark for a rest. She had been moving for most of the night and the moon had only just reached its highest point in the sky.

She lit her pipe, taking a leisurely inhale of her tobacco and blowing a ring of smoke towards the moon. It hazed out the bright circle momentarily, making it seem like the clear sky had only a single cloud covering the face of the moon. It was a pleasant night and there had been no chakra signatures around, which although strange, was a welcomed predicament. The young Uchiha was in no mood for any sort of un-pleasantry.

She smacked what felt like a bug on her neck, only to find something more…solid?

' _Eh? What the fuck?'_

Pulling it off her neck in a state of panic, what she could make out was a tiny container with a needle attached to it, something she'd never seen before.

As she frowned at it, her vision blurred, pipe falling from her hand as she fell sideways, her eyes wide open and alert but her body completely unresponsive.

* * *

Tobirama had travelled quiet the distance since he'd left his brothers tent. At first he'd gone for a wander around, but he'd picked up a muddled trail of chakra- one that was waning and leaving behind loud traces and then vanishing only to randomly flare up again.

Curious, he followed.

* * *

"Do we rip it off?"

"Not now, lets get this slut back to the tent first with the others."

Chieko tried to scream and kick, but her body was numb like a limb that had fallen asleep. The men carrying her body had been careless, groping her inappropriately when they'd picked her up. One of them had 'checked' the firmness of her thighs and her breasts, giving them squeezes in front of the others, with dirty grins on their faces. Icy tears were making their way down her pale face and she couldn't do anything except feel her chakra flutter uncontrollably, in response to her panic.

' _Kami, please let this stop. Please. Please. Please.'_

"This bitch is a fucking Uchiha!"

The men stopped moving and dropped her, her head hitting the ground roughly and her neck rolling painfully.

' _I'll burn all of you. Every single one of you.'_ The adrenaline in her body was making her heart hammer.

"You fuckin' serious?! Show me that."

Of course they had gone through her bag.

"Check the scroll…yeah," They were all silent for a moment, "They're reportin' on us! The boss has gotta know, we got a catch tonight boys!"

She tried to roll herself, but her body quivered weakly in response. She could feel them turn their eyes to her.

"How about we enjoy her before we get her to the boss. Keep it a secret sort of thing? Bet she's well experienced anyway, the slut."

She heard the men agree, too eagerly.

When they moved, they blocked away the moonlight that had been warming her bones with the terrifying certainty of her death. With rough hands, they rolled her onto her back, hands finding the neck line of her blouse. They had removed her armour long ago, someone else had smoked her pipe. She could smell it in the air. She focused on it, tears welling and spilling over as cold air met the vulnerable parts of her skin. Her underclothes were soaked in cold sweat. She couldn't close her eyes either, forced to stare directly at the empty dark sky.

' _Have I died?'_ The paralysis had her feeling vaguely as if death had killed her body, but forgotten to take her soul with it.

' _No no no.'_ Chieko tried desperately to feel for some part of her body, specifically, her eyes. As she felt one of their filthy hands over her stomach, she could hear their laughter and it burned through her ears like insults. She was an Uchiha. The thought came barrelling into her mind as she thought of her mission, her clan, the Senju. This war.

' _What the fuck do they think they're doing? Who do they think they are?'_ A jolt of raging thoughts began to cloud up her mind, distracting her from what the men were doing. ' _They're insulting my clan. They're insulting me. Tajima-sama trusts me with this mission. Izuna-sama gave it to me. I have to complete it. They shouldn't be touching me. No, no, no , no, no...not there! This shouldn't be happening!'_ Then there was silence. The darkness seemed to be lurching into her, and as Chieko wished she coulld clench her eyes shut, her vision began to distort and all she could see was the red and white of her clan's _uchiwa_ and the distinct sound of Misaki promising her he would see his imouto again.

* * *

"Ouch…" Tobirama muttered silently, his toes coming in contact with the sharp edges of…a chest plate. A distinctly black one.

He crouched down and picked it up, seeing the other bits of armour not too far ahead. There was some burnt tobacco on the ground, he could smell it. He flipped the chest plate over and traced the underside, looking for an embossed symbol indicating the make of the plate. He felt the circular tomoes on the inside.

 _Uchiha._

"Why are you here?" He whispered curiously to himself, he had only just moved towards it when he saw among the trees in the distance, the moon. It had sunk quiet low and in front of it were the faint, small silhouettes of a group.

Frowning, he moved silently through the trees, covering his chakra entirely. He was now close enough to hear them, horror filling his chest at the sounds of their conversation.

"Didn't think this bitch might be a virgin!"

He froze, his heart hammering in a way he hadn't recalled feeling.

Something strange happened in the few seconds it took for him to reach the men. The air turned thick and in the dark, the group of men all seemed to explode.

' _What in the world…?'_ Instinctively he backed away, worried eyes traveling from the bodies that had begun to burn up, their skin cracking and melting. There was no smoke, nothing billowing with the wind. Just the acrid scent of boiling human flesh and the sound of the men howling. It was a terrible and nearly inhuman screeching. In the dark it was hard to see the flame, but once he saw the darkness that was eating away this woman's attackers, his breath seemed to stop in his lungs.

He had seen those dark flames take down his brethren, his clansmen.

For a moment he wondered rather stupidly if the woman could be dead, some dark part of him wishing she wasn't alive so he wouldn't have to see her emotional state. Cautiously he moved towards the body lying on the ground, he saw the horrified dark eyes and the tears. Her veins visible, a dark blue in the moonlight. She had been drugged.

Swallowing thickly, he removed his haori, propping her up and covering her with it. Her arms were completely limp, her neck was rolling as he moved her and he had to be careful not to hurt her. Chieko recognized the silvery glint of his hair immediately, feeling ashamed of her exposed body. He was avoiding her gaze.

' _He's afraid of looking me in the eyes-'_ A deep, hushed voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Hold on a moment, I will give you something that will help. I promise you, I'm not here to hurt you."

' _I know.'_ She wanted to respond, wanted to wrap the warm haori closer around her form, the cold permeating through her ripped clothes, her underclothing was not intact enough to shield the more sensitive parts of her body.

He lowered her gently to the ground, his hands shaking as he looked for the right vial in his pouch. He popped it open, lowering it to her eyes and dropping a drop into each before emptying the rest into her mouth at an angle. He discarded it and propped her up so she could lean on him, the medicine trickling down her throat.

Unsure of what else to do, he held her up and began to speak.

"You have to wait a few seconds, it takes some time for the antidote to kick in."

He cleared his throat, staring at the foliage, debating in his mind whether he was doing the right thing. Some moments later, he felt her back tense up and he moved away from her, watching her cautiously as she sat up on her own, her shoulders heaving. He realized her eyes were glowing crimson still and from one, a single dark tear ran down her face. The acrid stench made its presence known again. She stood up, pulling his haori around her form as she stumbled and leaned against the thick trunk of a tree. She was staring in his direction.

When their eyes met, he felt the lump in his throat return.

"Chieko."

He said her name cautiously, like that of an unsure friend. Her nostrils flared so slightly, that he couldn't help but notice how agonized her eyes really looked. She spoke, her voice low and dangerous, as if he were an animal that would hurt her if she let him.

"Look over there," She gestured her head to her scattered belongings. "There is a scroll. For Hashirama Senju. Can you give it to him?"

Tobirama followed her direction, moving quietly to pick up the only scroll lying among the leaves. He also crouched down to pick up her spare clothing, including her Uchiha-crested haori. He dusted out the leaves and dirt, before refolding the clothes and placing them neatly at her feet.

That's when he put together why she had been here in the first place. As he stood up again, he met her now dark-grey eyes, she had been crying. She blinked, tears running down her face, warranting attention. Angrily, she wiped them. He took her wrist, his eyes trained firmly on hers.

"Are you alright?"

Chieko was not one to needlessly hate the Senju, but she couldn't help the feral growl that escaped her, "Don't touch me." However, she did not pry her hand away from his gentle grip.

"Tell me if you're alright or not."

She stared at him for a moment longer and shook her head, her body shaking again. He stepped closer to her and put his arm around her small shoulders, pressing her body into his chest as he hushed her.

"It's alright, you're alright Chieko, it's...alright."

Eventually, her sobs had turned to loud gasps, her body shaking too much to stand.

He stood, holding her up until her crying had become silent and her body too tired to quiver. Her hands were clinging tightly to his fishnet-undershirt and he could feel her cold fingertips through it. He could only hold her, a feeling of odd-satisfaction filling him as he stared at the ash not too far from them.

He had never thought of how beautiful those dark flames really were.


	6. Saviour

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Critiques are welcome, and if anybody could help me out with Tobirama's character, I would love love love to take all the help you can offer (hu hu hu)

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Chieko struggled beneath the thin cotton sheets, feeling her body rocking as if she were sailing, as if someone had gripped her organs and was moving her back and forth, back and forth.

Sharp streams of light were singing her forehead through the tents fabric. Her eyes shot open and she sat up with such force that her mat seemed to move with her, crying out in her mind as a soft whimper escaped her.

Squinting at the walls of the tent, she shielded her eyes. Everything seemed too bright, all lines seemed to blur into one bright light and she felt the blood rush to her head. Her forehead ached, her eyes were watery and one of them stung incessantly. The throb that erupted in her head made her feel as if she were about to pass out, but after a moment the pain subsided. She pressed her temples, her left eye stinging as if it were jabbed by a needle.

' _Did they try to steal my eyes?!'_ Her eyes shot open then, ignoring the pain she was relieved to find that none of her eyes were missing.

She remained sat up on the mat, realising her physical state. Her mouth was parched and her lip felt swollen. Swallowing thickly, she glanced around the tent. Not too far from her was a bottle of water and a small cup, the Senju symbol stamped onto the simple clay objects. She stared at it, her body very still. She was breathing gently, but she felt short of breath as she recalled just who had assisted her last night. He hadn't _saved_ her. No, he'd shown up just when it was too late.

She remembered being brought back here by him. He had teleported and it had made her sick. Another woman had helped her, it had still been dark and if she recalled hazily, not many had seen them. She zoned out for a moment, or perhaps longer, her body beginning to quiver as she recalled the event in the woods. She shook herself out of it, realizing she couldn't let herself slip into shock until she was home with her clan, with her family. Distracting herself, she looked around the room.

' _How many people know I am here? I need to get back to my clan.'_ She thought of her family with a dull ache, reaching to the bottle and drinking straight from it.

' _Hell, I want to see Izuna-sama, Madara-sama, anyone.'_ A purposeful shiver gripped her body like a cold fever and obsessively, she could only envision being around her clansmen.

Her rucksack was in the corner of the small tent, leaning against a small chest that wasn't hers. She was in someone else's tent. The sheets smelt faintly of herbs she couldn't recognize.

As the rougher memories of the night returned again like a wave, she blinked rapidly and looked down at her body. She was still wearing the blue long shirt he had put on her. Feeling unclean, she shifted uncomfortably and stood up. Her body did not quiver as she did so, thankfully, but there was pain in her thighs and between her legs. An uncomfortable kind of pain that made her flush from embarrassment. She took a sharp breath as she moved to the entrance, lifting the cloth away to peek outside.

Almost as if she was intruding, she shyly peeked out and let her eyes take in the surroundings, squinting as the outside seemed to be _even brighter_.

' _How close to the sun are these bastards?'_

As soon as her eyes met the inner world of the Senju, they came in contact with those of Tobirama. He held her a gaze for a second and looked away from her, back at the person he was speaking to. His hands were behind his back and he was wearing another blue tunic like the one he'd given her. But it was tied around his waist, his fishnet shirt seemed to gleam slightly with sweat. The forehead guard he wore was missing and his hair fell messily on his face. The man he spoke to was darker skinned, Chieko immediately stiffened when she realized there was a chance she could come across the better known Senju warriors, like the clan head Botsuma Senju. She'd never seen him before. She'd only heard stories of his horrific skills and his equally talented sons. She swallowed nervously, biting her lip as she retreated into the tent, unsure of what to do.

' _They'll probably sacrifice me to whatever Sun god they worship once they realize I'm awake.'_

As she turned away, growling to herself, a woman entered close behind her.

"Are you okay young miss?"

Chieko immediately turned defensively and glared at the young girl with wide, hysteric eyes. Her heart was hammering. The girl that had come in was younger than her, soft brown bangs framing earthy irises. Her tone was warm but reserved, as if she was cautious of being too familiar with the Uchiha girl who in her defence, looked vaguely like she was contemplating her death.

"I am to take you to the bathing area. Are you alright to come with me?"

Chieko had sat down on the mat at this point, her legs crossed under her.

' _There's' no way I'm showering myself here. I need to go home.'_

"I would like a set of clean clothes and a comb, please." Chieko's eyes were shut, the slightest quiver in her voice that she tried to suppress. The young girl put down a small casket she had been carrying.

"This has everything you need, miss." She sounded curious. Chieko opened an eye, resuming her cold tone.

"Leave me, please."

The young girl almost raised an eyebrow at her in defiance, but turned to leave. As soon as she was gone, Chieko dove for the casket and her rucksack, emptying everything into it. She pulled on her sandals that sat neatly on the other side of the chest.

Contemplating for a moment, she pulled on the pants and tied her sash around her waist, her katana and armour missing. Frowning, she pulled out a kunai from her pack and carved a 'thank you' onto the chest. Huffing, she hauled her pack onto her back, wandering to the other side of the tent and stepping out.

It was not difficult for her to feign familiarity. But people did give her strange looks when they realized how alien she looked to them with her dark hair and pale skin. She made eye contact with nobody as she kept her head low, moving at an ordinary pace and when she neared the edge of the settlement, she looked back to make eye contact with a very confused looking dark skinned man, the same one who had been speaking to Tobirama.

Panicking slightly, she leapt into the trees and vanished into thicket, rushing through the woods with urgency. She regretted leaving her katana and armour behind, but returning wasn't an option was it?

Tobirama had just finished talking to somebody else, turning his attention to his brother who was staring off into the trees. He frowned, ' _Pay attention niisama.'_

"Hashi-"

"I think our guest just left." Hashirama had one hand behind his head, scratching his head.

"What? The girl?" Tobirama was staring at his brother almost impatiently. He didn't answer him though, ignoring his question entirely, "You sure she's alright to travel on her own Tobi?"

"She's a kunoichi. Also, I've asked the scouts to look out for her. She won't get far before passing out probably."

But he couldn't suppress his own doubt, hiding his concern by turning his back to the trees and marching off to his tent.

Hashirama watched his brother walk away over his shoulder, silently aware of how disturbing the episode had been. He followed, quickly catching up to his brother to see him bending over the little chest of his belongings. Someone had roughly carved a 'thank you' into the wood. Tobirama was staring at it silently.

"Rape is not uncommon in wars, brother." Hashirama's voice was gentle and surprisingly adult in its tone. Tobirama had always been the more parent-like of the two, he turned to meet the older one's concerned gaze.

' _No kidding.'_

As Hashirama departed, his brother decided that he didn't want Chieko to leave without speaking to her first. And that is why Tobirama followed. It wasn't difficult, he had suspected she would run and he had left a tag on her. Using his Hirashin, he was behind her in an instant and she whipped around to kick him in defence. He caught her leg, pushing it away and easily deflected the punch she threw at him, his expression stoic and contained, as it always was.

"Calm down." His voice was always controlled and almost monotone, but he sounded just the slightest bit annoyed at her assault.

"Don't sneak up on me. Why are you constantly snooping around where I am?" Obviously enraged, Chieko shoved him.

The voice in Tobirama's head responded, ' _Because I let you go once and I still want to kill you.'_

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

She glared at him, he had let her shove him and was standing just a little away from her. His hair hung over his forehead, his forehead protector still missing. She'd never seen him without it. His shoulders seemed to be less squared, as if he had wilted slightly.

' _Maybe it's just my imagination.'_ She stared him down, unnerving him with her cold gaze. Not that he let it show. He moved as if to speak, but she erupted.

"You…" Chieko paused, tears stinging, "You were there. Why didn't you stop them?!" He noted the shake in her arms as she took a threatening step forwards.

' _Of course this damned Uchiha would think I didn't stop them.'_ He narrowed his eyes at her, head pulsing with white rage. Tobirama responded in a way he hadn't expected himself to. "I was late. I was too late. I'm sorry." His voice was steady and even, he felt rooted in his apology. He had meant it.

"You're _sorry?!"_ She was nearly shrieking, Tobirama took a step towards her, eyes flashing in anger. His voice was low and dangerous as he responded, "Yes I am. I was too late. I didn't _want_ them to do that to you."

" _Didn't_ you?" She laughed bitterly, a dark light in her grey eyes. He had seen many Uchiha like this, as if madness were slowly creeping up the walls of their minds. She suddenly quietened, "I'm sure you were greatly disturbed by what you saw. I apologize."

Eyes widening, he took a second step and leaned close enough for his hair to brush against her pale forehead, "I wasn't there to watch, _Uchiha_."

She mocked him, "Ooooh. Starting to sound dangerously honest there. Careful." As she spoke, she looked up at him, noses brushing.

Perhaps it was because this woman was so obviously exasperating that he didn't give up and leave right there. Tobirama hadn't felt the obligation to _not kill_ an Uchiha until he'd met her.

' _What sort of sick bastard do you think I am?'_

He grabbed her forearms and she barely flinched. He wasn't rough, and she didn't make a move to pull away. She stood rooted, staring at him as if he were Death himself. He wondered if he frightened her. The prospect made him feel angry and pleased at the same time.

"I don't care what you think I was doing." His gaze burned into hers, warm rose against her steely grey, "I'm sorry I didn't make it in time but I'm not sorry that I found you where I did and that I did whatever I could." He had meant to let her go, but his hands remained gently holding her arms. She blinked at him tiredly, suddenly feeling apologetic.

"Thank you." She paused, breaking their gaze as she stared at their feet, toes touching just barely. "I…I don't know your name."

Slightly surprised at the sudden mellowed down attitude, he tilted his head and stared at her thoughtfully. "Tobirama."

That's when she flinched, visibly.

' _So she's heard about me.'_

"You nearly killed my brother."

Feeling as if he'd been stung, he released her wordlessly and took a step back, all the while his expression remaining stoic and guarded. Their eyes were trained on each other, muscles tensed. Neither trusted the other.

He turned away from her, never looking back as he took a few more steps away and disappeared with the same gust of wind he had appeared with, leaving a frightened and surprised Chieko staring after him in his wake.

' _Talk about melodramatic.'_

* * *

Once Tobirama was back within the safe walls of his compound, he made a beeline for a quiet spot. Taking a seat on the porch of his father's residence, he stared off into the hustle and bustle of the Senjus. Usually, anyone passing by would see a calm and composed Tobirama seated leisurely on the steps to the clan head's residence. It was a reassuring sight for most. However, today he sat hunched with a frown on his face. The wind rustling his hair gave him no comfort and his chest seemed to tighten with the distinct sensation of rejection. The Uchiha would never acknowledge his help. It bothered him.

There seemed to be a heavy silence hanging over him and then abruptly, his stomach growled.

* * *

 _How did I let myself be caught off guard?_

The question was roaring in her mind as she travelled, her heart hammering and her hands constantly quivering. Once she was passed the landmark for Uchiha territory, she slowed down to let her chakra signature flood the area, hoping her kin would locate her. She hadn't felt so afraid of being alone since her first time on the battlefield.

 _What is this feeling?_

She was aware that trauma from the battlefield had certain characteristics and symptoms, but this was altogether different. Sexual abuse, nearly rape, had given her the same symptoms.

 _Someone please find me. Please._

"Chieko!"

The voice nearly scared her out of her reverie and she turned her head to meet the gaze of another woman, with familiar onyx eyes. She didn't recognize the woman, but the voice she'd heard had been a man's. Confused, she blinked and the woman was gone, moved out of sight to give way to an intimidating looking Uchiha that, as far as Chieko recalled, followed her brother around like a dog.

Her vision seemed to blur, her eyes aching. Chieko mumbled and squinted. "Misaki?" but the man didn't respond, staring confusedly at his friends little sister.

"What are you doing here girl?" It was the voice that made Chieko nearly stumble as she realized who it was. She glanced around her and realized she was very far from where she should have been. She turned to the man, whom she realized was none other than Madara and nearly laughed.

"Why am I here?" She was grinning at him, amused and frightened. He frowned and took another step towards her, his whole form seemed to blur and then twist up into a swirl, his dark hair and armour splitting and swerving continuously until Chieko saw three tomoes that seemed to link up and melt into each other until she was staring at the world beheld in a single Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Wake up Chieko, you're asleep. You've passed out. Wake up."

She frowned at the mangekyo that spoke to her, realizing how heavy her body was, weakly she reached towards it "Don't leave, Madara-sama." Her own mind failed to comprehend why she would take the young leader's name. He followed her brother around like a dog, she remembered.

The medic growled in frustration, pressing her palms gently to Chieko's temples. The young Uchiha was mumbling deliriously, naming everyone she knew from the clan and asking them not to leave. She also kept saying 'a dog followed around another dog.' A phrase that had been humorous at first but was not extremely irritating. She had seen this condition in several battle-worn and injured shinobi, it was mostly trauma that caused this, however the medic was aware that Chieko had what Madara had called a simple diplomatic task.

It was curious, but while helping the girl wash up, the medic had seen the bruises on her thighs and the sign of physical violation. She had not mentioned this in front of the young heir however, but she was sure he would want to know, especially considering she had been on a diplomatic mission to the Senju.

 _Those Senju bastards, to think they could do something so dishonourable to a young woman._


	7. Good Breeding

"Madara-sama." The medic had arrived into Madara's tent, where he and a few other shinobi were resting and discussing trivial clan matters.

This small encampment was one they'd set up while travelling north. Izuna's party had gone ahead and Madara would be joining his otouto soon. However, for now the shinobi were taking some much needed time to recollect and relax their bodies. Physical exertion was always a liability in war, as much as it was a necessity.

Madara perked up at the appearance of the medic, "How is Chieko-san?"

His voice was never devoid of authority and the woman he was speaking to hesitated for a moment. "Madara-sama, Chieko-san did not talk about how she ended up in her state. Instead, she…" The medic trailed off, uncertain of whether she should continue with all the men listening. Their talking had silenced and many pairs of eyes had turned to stare at the elderly woman.

Madara turned his attention to the others, realising the medic's discomfort. Not wanting any personal matters to be discussed in such a full room, he stood up and stepped towards the exit, the medic moving out of his way and following him out. She clasped her hands in front of her, feeling slightly awkward in the handsome man's heavy presence. Recalling her duty, she continued.

"She told me nothing, Madara-sama, except that she had used Amaterasu on her attackers."

Madara, who had been staring straight ahead, turned his gaze to the medic, staring down at her with raised eyebrows and an almost petulant smirk.

' _I didn't even know she knew how to do that.'_ It wasn't uncommon for Uchiha to use such abilities, after all, their kekkei genkai enabled them to do such things. Madara just hadn't expected the small girl to have that sort of grasp of her powers.

' _Woman,'_ He mentally corrected himself, ' _She no longer looks like a little girl.'_

Chieko had emerged from her hiding spot within the medic's small makeshift tent. There were two kunoichi outside it, laughing and talking to each other in hushed voices so as not to attract attention. Chieko paused just as she pushed up the flap, peeking out uncertainly.

Her whole body seemed to quiver at once, and then stilled. A singular spasm that rocked her body.

One of the kunoichi was attending to a big pot of something, stirring it with a wooden ladle. "Hey, you think we should go check on Chieko?" Said girl perked at the mention of her name and stepped out silently as someone stood to check on her.

"That won't be necessary." A small voice spoke up from beside them, and the two kunoichis turned to greet the form of Chieko, dressed in her clan's warring attire. She had dark lines beneath her eyes, but otherwise she looked much better then when Madara-sama had found her wandering in circles.

"You seem recovered." Said one of the women, smiling kindly at her. Chieko nodded, returning a smile.

' _I'm not really fine. But if I believe I am, I will be.'_

"Name's Tsuki," said the kunoichi that was stirring the broth, she gestured with her head to the other, "That's Miho." Chieko nodded, "I'm Chieko-"

"We know who you are, Misaki-senpai's little sister right?" Chieko responded with a nod and a smile, moving to sit next to Miho, who was suddenly grinning at her, "You don't seem so small…" She said seriously, chuckling after she spoke.

"Well, I do suppose we could all be the same age."

Tsuki hummed, agreeing. "I'm 19." Miho followed, "Me too." Chieko blinked at them and then giving a terse smile, winked at them, "I am littler than you both, 17." The other two scoffed and then laughed.

' _What a strange conversation to be having.'_ Chieko watched as they sorted out bowls, pouring soup into each and letting some bread soak into it. They placed them in a tray. Chieko, realising that they were responsible for dinner, offered her assistance.

"I…I'll take those." Tsuki nodded, "Sure thing, hurry before they get cold." Chieko picked it up and moved towards the larger tent, she could see Madara speaking to the woman who had questioned her impatiently about her misadventure. She suddenly shivered, her breath catching in her throat. Focusing on the bowls and the shifting liquid in them as she carried the tray, she soothed herself. The anxiety in her chest however, began to eat her away from the inside. Much like the flames on her….victim's flesh.

 _They were more my victims than I theirs._

The thought didn't comfort her. They had forced themselves on her, and she in turn had forced herself on their lives. She had killed them all.

She had passed Madara, who seemed to turn to watch her enter the tent. The men inside lit up at the sight of food, "Dinner!" One of them yelled, garnering everyone's attention.

At the sight of the men, even though they were her kin, Chieko froze. Her arms began to shake, the bowls quivering. All the men seemed to slow down with their interactions once they realized the girl looked afraid.

"You alright, love?" Someone asked and Chieko, snapping violently out of her reverie, walked to the table, crouched and dropped the tray loudly, standing up to scurry out of the tent. On her way out, she bumped shoulders with Madara, not realizing it was him until she was halfway to the women. She turned to see if he was staring after her in anger, but the men seemed to have retired away.

Madara raised an eyebrow, turning to watch the young kunoichi storm out. She had nearly collided with him and didn't turn to apologize. He had never known her too well, only seeing her on the odd occasion and never speaking, but it seemed impolite even for her.

"She seemed angry about something." Supplied Hiruka, drinking the remaining broth straight from his bowl. Madara scoffed, "No kidding."

"She's a pretty one, for her age." Said one of the others as Madara sat at the table and took the last bowl from the tray, content to listen to the conversation. Another voice spoke up, "Don't let Misaki hear you say that, I almost believed him when he said his little sister was a child."

"Clearly that was no child, didn't you see?" Someone else snickered, someone whistled. It was light banter, Madara told himself. The men weren't wrong.

Chieko had taken after her mother in every sense. She was of average height and didn't appear too intimidating until you realized that she was an example of a dangerously beautiful Uchiha. Her dark hair was long and usually in a knot, but when Madara had found her, it was undone and cascaded down her back like curling strands of silk. Her neck was slender and her face a delicate oval, Light grey eyes set in narrow but big eyes and framed by thick lashes.

"It's called good breeding." Said the man closest to Madara. In turn, the young leader let out a laugh. As he ate, he couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible had transpired. The medic had told him about the bruises on her thighs. He himself, had seen the bruise on her lip and the finger marks on her arms and her neck. Fights and spars did not cause those sort of marks. Madara had lain with women and although he had never hurt them, he knew men who liked that sort of thing and he had seen what those pursuits looked like once the women were done with.

He decided to keep the thought in mind, questioning seriously whether the Senju would do such a thing.

' _If they can kill children, why would something this dishonourable be any different?'_


	8. Uchihas

**I had so much fun with some of this chapter...**

A/N: While I struggle with Tobirama's characterization, because Chieko is an Uchiha and all, you will see frequent bits of Madara until the truce!

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

The next few days were spent travelling. Chieko remained silent most of the journey, sticking to the women and only drifting away from them to serve dinner or to help with chores whenever they set up camp.

"Whoa whoa girl, look at that body!" Tsuki catcalled, splashing water at Chieko as she stepped tediously into the slow flowing river that the four women were bathing in. "Hush hush!" She called back, laughing. The other three women did not miss the slight bitterness in the young girl's voice. She sank into the water, nose-deep, before delving in and resurfacing. Her hands ran through the inky black hair that pooled around her and then clung to her neck and back.

Since the kunoichi were so few, the men had consented to let them bathe first. Chieko wondered whether they were watching, dismissing the uncomfortable thought from her mind. She had begun to like the shinobi that she was travelling with, even if the men scared her for reasons that weren't their fault.

"Hey, if anybody pees while we're in here, I will slaughter you!" Cried Miho. The medic, Izumi, although older and usually reserved, snorted as she suppressed a laugh, causing the others to laugh as well.

"They seem to be having fun." Said Ibiki, his back to the bushes that hid the river from where they were camping. Madara hummed in agreement, glancing over his shoulder as he heard the laughter. They had scouted the area and the sensor-nin were all on guard to make sure nobody would approach the small party. Despite the safety precautions, Madara felt queasy.

He hadn't intended to, but when he turned to look back, he caught glimpse of a pale form wringing out her long hair. She stood on the bank, a towel wrapped around her hips, her back left bare to the wind and Madara's peering eyes. He felt the blush creep up his neck as Ibiki turned to catch him looking and decided to look too.

"Oh." He said in monotone, not very impressed. Madara frowned and gave him an irritated side-glance. Apologetically, Ibiki put his hands up, "My wife's a killer, sorry." Madara hadn't remembered he was married. Tsuki climbed out of the water too, hooking a finger in Chieko's towel and tugging it off to watch the girl fluster and cover herself with her arms. "H…Hey! Give it back!"

From where he sat, Madara picked up on the discomfort in her voice, but it turned to feigned anger. His ears perked and heated up at her words.

"Give it back Tsuki! I can feel all the men getting boners back there!"

He nearly fell off his perch, Ibiki releasing a thundering laugh that the women, no doubt, heard.

When the four kunoichi returned, many of the men who had been waiting impatiently to bathe themselves, trudged shamelessly in their underclothes to the other side of the bushes. Chieko sat by the fire where previously, she had seen Ibiki, the oldest member of the party, sitting. She combed her hair in parts, letting it dry by the heat. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she looked up from the orange flame to see Madara walk past, scratching his chest lazily. Despite spending ridiculous amounts of time around men and seeing them without clothing when they trained or lounged around, Chieko felt wrong staring at the heir's body and averted her gaze. Tsuki on the other hand, peered eagerly at him, licking her lips once he'd passed.

"You're gross." Chieko mumbled, grinning slightly.

"You're a prune. Let go and have some fun, look at all that firm Uchiha ass."

It was Chieko's turn to snort. As Tsuki began to prepare their meal for the evening, they continued their banter, unaware of the fact that the noble Uchiha shinobi attuned their ears to make sure there were no surprise attacks or snide comments about their bodies. They were proud men, but who didn't enjoy a stroked ego?

"I remember the last time I slept with somebody, it was just before we went out and fought some of those Hagoromo idiots. Boy was it good, you know the less time you have, the more it-"

"Oi oi! I don't want to hear the nasty details!" Chieko cried out, Miho agreed albeit for a different reason, "Yeah, me neither. Don't make me jealous of your sexual escapades Tsuki, I've been dry for about a month now."

Chieko felt as if her face had been immersed in hot water. "Eh? A month?" She felt that was fairly recent. The mention of sex however, sent an uncomfortable sting through her body. Her thighs clenched.

"Psh a month? The last time I had a good bang was before you arrived Chieko." She smirked wickedly at the younger girl, who blushed, embarrassed at the thought of Tsuki having sex with someone- She paused and then erupted.

"You mean with someone here!?"

Tsuki let out a proud giggle and Miho rolled her eyes. Chieko blinked, shaking her head, "You're going to burn the dinner Tsuki." She sounded too calm suddenly, and Tsuki felt the urge to tease the girl some more.

"Have you slept with someone before?"

Chieko felt like a deer caught in a storm of kunai. Unable to escape, she shrugged slightly, lying terribly through her teeth, "No. Not really."

Madara, curious as he was, was aware of Tsuki sleeping with Tenzo. Not by accident of course, men had a tendency to talk about these things. Chieko's answer brushed past his ears as he towelled his hair, pulling on his pants. He could tell she was lying, he noted that her voice quivered once much like the way her brother's did when he lied.

Making sure to make as much noise as possible, he approached the women and sat by them, leaning forward to adjust his sandals over the ends of his trousers. "Sorry to disturb your _interesting_ conversation," He didn't look up at the women to see them flush, but he was pleased to know he had embarrassed them, "I hope dinner will be ready soon. Once we rest up we'll be leaving before day break." As he sat up straight, his dark eyes met Chieko's light-grey ones. She had been watching him silently and nodded, unabashedly.

"Madara-sama, if I may, could I speak to you in private?" Her question caught the other Uchiha off guard. Tsuki eyed her friend with interest. Madara stood, "Of course." He had begun walking to where he had left his rucksack, wanting to fish out a clean shirt. Chieko followed him, the wind rustling her shirtsleeves. Her top was too loose around her body, tied at the waist by a simple belt. Madara had observed that she liked to hide herself in her clothes. ' _She's probably aware of the way people talk about her body.'_

As soon as they were out of ear-shot, Chieko spoke up again, staring intently at the space between Madara's shoulder blades. "Madara-sama, the scroll Izuna-sama sent me with was given securely to the Senju, although I didn't make it personally."

Interested in her choice of words, he gestured for her to walk beside him. When he spoke, he was aware of how deep his voice suddenly sounded, "Explain how you know it reached them, then."

Without missing a beat, she answered "I handed it to a reliable source."

' _Reliable source. You make it sound like he works for you.'_ She cringed at her own internal thought.

Madara turned to glance at her with a raised eyebrow as he produced a shirt from a leather rucksack, pulling it over his head. Zoning out for a moment, she stared at his abdomen and then at the sky as he pulled it over his body and kicked the rucksack back into its place. He wondered if he could trust her.

"What happened on that mission?"

She looked alarmed at his question and uncomfortable too. "I was…assaulted by a bunch of people." She spoke each word carefully as if they were made of glass and would shatter if she wasn't precise with her enunciation. Madara understood then, his suspicion of what had transpired being confirmed.

"Well. You completed the task, Izuna trusts you and I don't see any reason to not trust your judgment. Thank you for reporting to me." He smiled kindly at her, his hands behind his back.

' _I wonder if all important men walk around with their hands behind their backs.'_ She snorted at the thought as she dismissed herself, "If you'll excuse me Madara-sama." He nodded, letting her retreat back to the kunoichi.

* * *

 _Elsewhere._

 _Tobirama had been surveying the surrounding territory, aware of the small Uchiha party that had camped out by the river. They couldn't sense him, which meant he was safe, but out of dangerous curiosity, he wondered if this was where Chieko would be. He would never admit to feeling concern, he wrote it off as curiosity instead._

 _Sure enough, as he approached the river, he was aware of there being Uchiha on the other side. What he hadn't accounted for, was the four naked women bathing shamelessly and fearlessly in the river._

' _Uchihas.' He thought darkly to himself. He was sure they'd seduce the fish if they could. An even darker memory crossed his mind and reminded him that they were not all sultry and….evil. He scoffed at the word. Concealing himself within the foliage, he made out the familiar chakra of Chieko, wringing her hair with a towel wrapped around her waist. Her chest was exposed to the wind and to his rose-hued eyes. He felt his face heat up and he cussed at himself._

' _Uchihas. What do they think they're doing? Strutting around naked like this is their land.' He remembered then, that it was their territory that spanned this forested and unpopulated area. He was trespassing. He was vaguely aware of the dangers that posed being in a place with people that had super vision, but he needed a head count of the men Madara had in his party._

' _I know he has four women. That's progress.'_

 _He remained hidden, controlling the odd pulsing in his abdomen as he watched the women dress and leave. A while after they'd gone, the men emerged._

' _They all seem to be having a good time.' He thought sardonically. Once he was sure he'd gotten a solid headcount, he left. As he hiraishined, Ibiki strained his eyes towards the trees._

" _Hey, somebody was peeping."_

* * *

After eating, Chieko had avoided conversation and headed to sleep. She had found herself a comfortable spot in the chilly darkness furthest from the dying fire. Wishing she could sleep, she closed her eyes and then rubbed them. She was so tired. ' _Kami-sama, just one night of decent sleep. Please.'_

Since her incident with the bandits or whatever they were, she was plagued by strange nightmares of dying, burning men and strange phallic symbols. It disturbed her enough, and she had barely slept the last two days of their journey. However, the river had helped and so had Tsuki's looseness. Chieko drifted off to sleep, wondering what it would be like to willingly sleep with a man.

Madara was about to put out the last embers of the fire, when he glanced over the heads of the resting Uchiha. Some were staring up at the open sky and some spoke in low voices. Others had curled up and fallen asleep, snoring softly. He felt like a hen counting her chicks and scoffed at the thought. He was aware of the Senju watching them, he had caught glimpse of Tobirama when he had turned to watch Chieko. The only reason he was not worried about an attack was because this journey had been brokered carefully- with the problem of human smuggling, both Uchiha and Senju clans in this area had retired to monitoring their territory and letting a temporary silence fill the battlefields. Sighing heavily, he strode to a free spot by one of his men, only to find that the little bit of the face sticking out of the blanket was actually Chieko, fast asleep.

 _Chieko was standing by a tree, leaning against it. A pair of warm, gentle hands rested on her hips and a forehead was pressed eagerly to hers. She peered up at a pair of familiar but alien eyes, her lips brushed against soft masculine ones and the scent of sandalwood invaded her senses. Feeling overwhelmed, she could feel the body pressing gently against her, coaxing warmth to her cold skin. Incoherent sensations seemed to fluctuate through her and for a long moment, she felt a pleasant buzz that turned quickly into pain. Everything seemed to darken and the tree she was leaning against became sticky with blood. The man in front of her began to burn, he was burning and his flesh was melting on her._

Gasping, Chieko shot up. Her eyes stung with tears that she quickly blinked away, swallowing thickly. Madara was watching her silently with an alarmed expression, but he was lying at an angle from where she wouldn't see him watching her. She pulled her knees up to hug them and sobbed into her arms, her shoulders quivering. She remained like that for a minute and then cussing under her breath about men being many things, she lay back down and stared glassy-eyed at the ultramarine sky. Tsuki moved and placed a hand on the girls shoulder and in response she rolled over to face her and from the rise and fall of her chest, Madara assumed she had fallen asleep.


	9. Mountains

Hey everyone! Here's another stream of updates! I would love to hear what you guys have to say about the story so far!

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

' _How far is that damned compound?'_

Chieko was shivering from cold sweat, they had been travelling for another two days, stopping only to rest for food and some hours of sleep. Now the wind was blowing ice-cold gusts and it made Chieko feel like her limbs were slowly freezing up.

In the distance, the pale structure of the northern compound loomed like a pale ghost against the grey mountains. It was built into a massive mountain too, Chieko had never been here before. She stopped to stare up at the view, finding its pale eeriness almost beautiful.

The moment she stopped moving, she sensed a flutter of chakra and she turned to look over her shoulder. There was no way anyone could follow them secretly- the path was narrow and against the steep body of rocks that littered the edges of the mountains. Nobody would be stupid enough to attack them from above.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned back and continued. It was unlikely that a scout like her could imagine such a thing, however nobody else had noticed it. She wrote it off as a mistake.

"We should reach there within the next few hours if we don't stop," Madara called out over the small group of 16 Uchiha. It wasn't the smallest party to be travelling with, but it was smaller than the usual companies.

Chieko and Tsuki had fallen into step behind Ibiki, when all three of them felt the flutter of chakra. Tsuki whipped around, Ibiki barked orders at the others, Chieko took a few steps to the side and pressed herself to the wall. Placing her hands on the rock, she concentrated to see if she could detect anything. Thirty two sharingans were now monitoring the mountains.

' _There doesn't seem to be anyone here-'_ Chieko was cut off, her head whipping to the side as she watched someone get thrown away from the group. The man tumbled to the edge of the rocky path and fell down into the cavernous darkness below.

"ABOVE!" Shouted a voice Chieko couldn't place. Looking up, Chieko made eye contact with a dark haired man.

' _He looks vaguely like a monkey.'_

Evading the fireball he blew at her easily, she had to be careful not to slip off the path as she dodged instinctively, letting her sharingan do most of the work. Jumping up, she placed a palm against the rock and using her chakra to hold up her body, she flipped herself, feet planted behind the Sarutobi shinobi in an almost impossible feat of speed and chakra control. Huffing proudly, she shoved him off and he face-planted on the ground, only to be dealt with by Tsuki. Far above Chieko, where the rock was less steep, Madara cut through a shinobi and Chieko yelped as a limb brushed past her nose. She felt sick. Her horizontal position was also not helping.

Clambering up the rock, she hoisted herself onto a small cliff, eyes scanning the ongoing battle. She watched Miho stab one shinobi and evade another, Ibiki seemed to pause, having cut down most of his attackers and Madara had unsheathed his katana. He noticed Chieko standing there,her head shot to the left as she sensed another wave of shinobi. This time, Chieko recognized them before the others could.

"SENJU! 12 o'clock!"

Rolling across the rough terrain, she ducked and dodged through the fighting until she found footing on the largest rock on the awkwardly sloped mountain-side.

' _I thought we weren't going to be expecting an attack from them.'_

Chieko was an easy target from where she stood, but as she had predicted, a wave of water was gushing towards them. Matching the speed of the water, a few hand-signs later Chieko slammed her palms into the ground and she watched as the water seemed to steam away, a massive hot cavern forming in the middle of the rock, creating a defensive barrier of steam between the fighting Uchiha and the approaching Senju. As she squinted her eyes, her skin stinging from the steam, her sharingan enabled her to see the forms of a few shinobi fall into the newly formed cavern, painful screams echoing through it as they landed in the scorching hot water within. Tobirama, surprised at this change in landscape, halted his company and began shouting orders. "Try and get off this rock!" His shout carried over to Chieko and she realised, after recognizing his voice, what he was going to do.

' _Oh fuck.'_

Turning around to the Sarutobi and the Uchiha, she began to shout "GET TO THE OTHER SIDE! NOW!" Ibiki was next to her, out of breath, she turned and yelled at him "GET EVERYONE TO THE OTHERSIDE, THIS MOUNTAIN IS GOING DOWN!"

Eyes widening, he conveyed the order to the confused group of Uchiha and Sarutobi. They seemed to pause mid-fighting, and began a mad scramble to get away from the mountain that they were on.

Chieko, realizing she had to stop Tobirama before he could use some crazy water jutsu, made a mad leap across the wide cavern.

It was common knowledge that rocks were worn away by water, and she had used her Daton jutsu to create the massive cavern without thinking about who would be leading the Senju. If Tobirama used a technique with enough water and chakra, he could split the mountain and send them all into the cavernous depths below.

"OI!" yelling loudly to distract him, Chieko had managed to launch herself right into the Senju, knocking the breath out of him. They hit the ground with a loud thud and Tobirama moved quickly to throw her off, trying to complete his hand-seals. However, he hadn't taken into account that he would have to defend himself from Chieko. He dove out of the way as a massive fireball hurtled towards him, Chieko following in its shadow.

"Stop!" She yelled as she attempted a kick to his abdomen. When he moved to dodge, she caught hold of his arms behind his back. More specifically, she tangled her fingers with his effectively holding his hands. How she had managed to get behind him seemed to confuse him until he realized the one in front of him had been a clone.

' _Goddammit how did I not see that?!'_

"Let go!" He tried to whip his hands away, her cold fingers pressing between his own painfully, his wrists pushed against the small of his back. To further trap him, she pressed his arms between his back and her stomach.

' _Wow, what a compromising position.'_

"What are you doing?!" He twisted around, but she held onto him with such intent, that she carried herself with him, her legs flailing in the air. Tobirama would have thrown her over him but he didn't want to risk breaking his wrists. He sensed an unfamiliar chakra, realizing that he could detect neither Uchiha nor Sarutobi and only a few shinobi from the company he had arrived with.

"Hey, Chieko?" She didn't loosen her grip, instead resting her chin on his shoulder and accidentally breathing into his ear as she responded, "Yeah?"

Tobirama squirmed, trying to concentrate on the chakra he could sense, it was still far but it was approaching with speed. There was too much steam for him to see, he turned his head and his lips brushed against Chieko's cheek as he spoke, "Keep your sharingan activated. I think we might have some trouble. Can you sense your clan? Anywhere?"

Silently, Chieko looked around, seeing nothing but the chakra of the environment and the occasional brave animal flying above. "I can't sense anyone except…" Her eyes fixated in the direction that Tobirama had sensed someone approaching. She let go of his arms, shoving him in the opposite direction, "MOVE!"

Both of them dove out of the way as a massive boulder cracked through the slope, crashing loudly into the cavern and making the mountain quiver with an eerie groan. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Chieko was yelling in Tobirama's direction, her eyes trained on where the boulder had come from, trying to detect that unfamiliar chakra again.

Tobirama flashed and in an instant was beside her, crouching low. "I have no idea." He was frowning. Chieko could make out far, far in the distance, Madara's chakra signature but before she could move, the masculine voice beside her made her freeze. "We came here to stop this group of Sarutobi from attacking your lot."

' _You would help the Uchiha?'_

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"They want to change the line of inheritance. It's a complicated story, but this group went rogue from the main clan last week."

Confused, Chieko stood up to sprint, Tobirama following. "I can sense the others up ahead," As they leapt over a crevice, another boulder came their way and Tobirama seized the girl's arm to flash-step out of the way. Growling, he stood a few steps ahead of her trying to narrow down on the source of the rocks. The Uchiha spoke up angrily, "Someone is definitely using some sort of Daton jutsu. That rock was-"

"Charged with chakra, I know." Chieko stared at him for a moment and then her crimson eyes moved back to the landscape. ' _Of course, he's a sensory type.'_

"I don't know why I can't see him. It's like…my vision is getting scrambled." She closed her eyes and reopened them, grey irises returning. "Whatever it is has left his chakra all over the place, I can't discern one rock from another."

' _Of course, everything has some chakra in it.'_ Frustrated with this predicament, Tobirama moved forwards, "We should catch up to the others." Nodding, Chieko began to sprint with a concerned look in her eyes, she could sense the Uchihas not too far away now.

Abruptly, a massive figure collided with Tobirama, knocking him back with an ' _oof'._ Confused and conflicted, Chieko activated her sharingan and paused for a moment. ' _The others can take care of themselves.'_ With an exasperated grunt, she turned back to follow the Senju.

She could sense the alien chakra signature and she saw a brute looking shinobi preparing to smash his fist into a knocked out Tobirama, however the Senju was still awake and moved out of the way in a blur. The brute let out an abnormally obnoxious laugh and brought his fist down, revealing that he was performing some sort of summoning jutsu. Instead of anything appearing, the ground below them caved in and groaned, pulling down rocks and boulders and most of the mountain down into itself.

"How on earth?!" Chieko panicked, just barely having enough time to launch herself off the ground as it caved in on itself beneath her. An involuntary yelp escaped her as the ground churned upwards.

' _What the hell sort of power is this?!'_

Panicking some more, she activated her sharingan and began to dodge the crumbling rocks. Some were too massive to evade and she had to use her own chakra to run over them or across them, trying to save herself from being crushed. Upon seeing the Senju doing much the same, Chieko felt a flicker of desperation. They were going to die.

* * *

Madara was barking orders at his men, the Senju falling into line with the newly arrived Hashirama. He had managed to intervene in the fighting, preventing the Uchiha from taking on his clan, just as the Sarutobi were disposed of. Hashirama had explained that the attackers were a rogue group that separated from the clan, intent on changing the Uchiha line of inheritance by killing Madara and Izuna, Tajima Uchiha's only remaining sons.

Madara had understood that the Feudal lords of the land of wind desperately wanted an Uchiha leadership that favoured them instead of the feudals from the land of fire. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he deactivated his sharingan. The Sarutobi kneeling before him fell to the ground, dead.

"Say, Madara. You haven't seen my otouto anywhere have you?"

"Eh? No, I haven't." There was an uneasy silence, and then Tsuki spoke up, addressing Madara-sama with an answer meant for Hashirama. "I saw Chieko dive across the cavern and tackle the Senju, they might still be fighting it out down there."

Hashirama narrowed his eyes, signalling to his men to move in the direction Tsuki had gestured to. He couldn't sense any chakra however and he found it worrying.

"We have to find Chieko. Come." The Uchiha party, now reduced to 13 living members, moved stealthily and quickly down the mountain. Hashirama, who was at the front of his group, was joined by Madara, the two running side by side.

"There's word of an assassination attempt on the clan heads." The statement, made by Hashirama, hung awkwardly between the two. It made him uneasy, "Our siblings have also been targeted."

"How do you know this?"

"I have spies in important places, plus it's not just our clans. The Hyuuga, Sarutobi, Tsukinowa and Hagoromo clans are all targets."

Madara scoffed, "How likely is it that they would be successful with something so atrocious? Not very, I'd like to assume."

Hashirama only hummed in response.


	10. Lygophilia

Chieko was lying sprawled on the damp ground, there was mist in the air and it was warm. The cavern she had created had been the reason her and Tobirama were still alive.

They had wandered around the dark for hours, each desperately trying to find a way out, both working independently and ignoring the other's presence. Chieko had given up before Tobirama had. Her sharingan had allowed her to see that the rocks had blocked up all possible exits, the only choice she had now was to remain and wait for her comrades to try looking for her.

The Senju was seated across from her, staring at the bottom of her chipped sandals, his arms crossed over his chest. "At first I thought this cavern was a bad move," He spoke stubbornly, "It saved us. I'm surprised we can breathe in here."

Chieko shrugged and sat up, "How far from the surface do you think we are?"

"Considering how dark it is, I can say that I have absolutely no idea." As he finished speaking he let out a tired sigh, running a hand through his hair. The impatient search for a way out had exhausted him. Chieko could only see his silhouette in the dark, her vision was worsening the longer the darkness remained. She pulled her knees up to her chest and mirrored his sigh, "I can't even sense anything above us. Do you think anybody will find us?"

She could hear him moving as he replied. Squinting, she saw him lie down with one arm on his chest and the other above his head, "I sure as hell hope somebody does."

"I think I'm all out of chakra…" She mumbled, feeling a sudden weariness as she lay back down. In the silence, should hear her own heartbeat and her uneven breathing. It was unnerving, considering that they could hear each move the other made. A few feet away from them, the rock softened into a massive pond like structure full of water that steamed and bobbed despite the stillness.

"If we're stuck down here forever, I think I'll have to eat you to survive."

It was an unexpected crack at a joke and Chieko let out a tired, dusky laugh, rolling to face the direction he was lying in. In the dark, she could make out his face turned in her direction too.

"I don't think I'd be easy for you to digest, you know, being an Uchiha and all."

"Tough nuts all of you."

She grinned and she wondered at the amused tone in his voice, maybe he was smiling too. She would have liked to see it.

Musing in the silence, she spoke again. "I trust you."

"Trust me? To eat you?" As he responded, it was obvious that he was suppressing a laugh and eventually, he managed a snort. It echoed in the silence for a few seconds and then Chieko burst into a fit of laughter. Tobirama grinned in her direction. He shifted in his place, rolling onto his side to face her, he could barely see her.

' _Might as well get along while we're stuck down here.'_

But he wasn't _trying_ to get along with her, the jokes flowed between them easily, as if they were friends. She trusted him. It moved him, making his chest swell slightly at the thought.

' _Of all the people.'_

"It's awfully damp in here." She groaned after a moment, the sound of scuffling as she rolled up her pants. They were sticking to her skin, it felt like it was getting warmer and steamier inside the dark cavern and she was worried that it would get too stuffy.

Tobirama hummed in response, briefly tossing a question in his mind before he decided to ask. "What's your chakra nature?" Chieko silenced as she stilled, he could see her sitting up, or at least he _thought_ he could see her sitting up. The question floated around for a moment before she answered in a cautious tone, "Earth."

"Ah, that explains it."

His response made her feel comfortable, but she didn't want to get _too comfortable_ in the Senju's presence. "How long have we been down here?" She sounded annoyed and impatient. Tobirama shook his head, realizing then that she couldn't see him.

"Probably an hour or a bit more." Curiosity returning, he fired another question, "How well can you see in the dark?"

"Not too well, just as terribly as you." She scoffed.

"I meant, after you use the sharingan. It worsens your vision doesn't it?"

She was silent again, and Tobirama realised she probably felt weary of his questions. He didn't mean to pry for information, "Sorry, I'm just curious. Never been stuck in a cave with an Uchiha that doesn't want to kill me."

"You're pretty curious about Uchihas, for someone who despises us."

He pursed his lips, staring off into the darkness thoughtfully. "I don't hate _all_ Uchihas."

"Oh _really?"_ He could tell from her tone that she was narrowing her eyes at him, preparing to bite his head off if he said anything snarky.

"I don't hate you." Even to himself, he sounded cocky.

"Gee, thanks. I feel special." Although she deflected his response to her sarcasm, there was a hint of acceptance in her tone and it made Tobirama feel strange. "I could if you asked me to."

"Hate me then."

He hadn't expected her to be nice about it, he questioned if Chieko Uchiha was nice about anything at all. Grumbling he crossed his arms and remained lying on his back in silence. Chieko had other ideas, "Go on Senju, bite me."

She shifted closer to him and then suddenly she was close enough for him to sense her and he sat up, his head colliding with some part of her. She tumbled from the force of impact with an ' _ouch',_ knees landing on his thighs. "What did you do?!" She yelled, exasperated at the confused tangle of limbs in the dark. She couldn't see at all anymore in this darkness, but she didn't want him to know.

' _Great, now he'll realise I'm absolutely shit-eyed.'_

It wasn't an exaggeration. The minimal light in the cavern had dulled and her tired eyes refused to function, pupils refusing to dilate. She tried to sit up, her side brushing up against some part of him as she desperately tried to pry herself away.

"Hold on, hold on." He mumbled, and she stilled, "Wait," She felt a hand smack her shoulder and moved to grab it. She felt his arms tense up as she did so, frowning. "Relax Senju. Maybe you should feel easier knowing I actually can't see anything right now."

"Really?" He sounded incredulous and also incredibly close, as he spoke she felt his breath against her face. More specifically, her mouth. She felt herself blush, shifting to move the weight off her knees as she sat down. On his legs.

"Well, at least in terms of geographical location I know where I am now." She prodded his knees jokingly and he laughed. Moving her hands to feel the space beside him, she crawled off, murmuring an apology and feeling the ground to make sure she didn't lie down on him. When she lowered herself onto her tummy this time, she felt her arm press up against his. He didn't move away.

His whispering voice made her shiver, suddenly aware of how close they were, "You shouldn't move away if you can't see at all." There was a lump in her throat as she failed to respond, feeling an unfamiliar tingling in her chest.

' _He wouldn't try anything on me. Would he?'_

She felt her body tense up at the thought, alarms ringing in her head. Apparently, Tobirama felt her tense up because he spoke reassuringly, "We need to stop freaking out at each other. At least for now. While we're here. In this cave."

He couldn't imagine having to be stuck down here alone and was grateful of the company. Chieko's question however, sent him spiralling into a mind full of conflict.

"Do you think our clans will ever stop fighting?"

She sounded drowsy, Tobirama exhaled loudly, "Who knows."

It wasn't the sort of response she was hoping for and if they could see each other, he would have seen the pointed look she was giving him.

"Don't stare. It's rude." His voice had returned to its cool, even self. Chieko rolled her eyes, "I can't really see _what_ I'm staring at, in my defence." As she spoke she felt a vague fuzzy sensation in the air. She realized it was chakra.

"Th…that's Hashirama's chakra." But Tobirama had already stood up, having sensed it seconds before she did. He could tell that the rocks blocking up the cavern were being moved. He reached down and took hold of Chieko, she stood up, letting him hold her arm for guidance.

"We need to back away." She murmured and took a few steps back, pulling Tobirama with her, just as several branches of thick wood tore through the rocks, pulling them away and letting in a flood of light. Chieko brought her hand up to shield her eyes just as Tobirama let her go to take a few strides forward. Back lit by the setting sun, in all his glorious joy at finding the two, stood Hashirama.

' _What's with these guys and their mad lighting?'_

Tobirama was going to make a beeline towards his brother, but stopped to look over his shoulder at the Uchiha, "Can you see alright?"

She was squinting, her nose scrunched in frustration.

' _She looks…cute.'_ He couldn't control the flush that tinted his neck and cheeks as she nodded at him, stepping after him as he ducked his head towards his brother. This reaction did not go unnoticed by Hashirama. Madara was peering at them from above.

"Hey, Chieko." Tsuki was reaching for the girl and Chieko grinned as she clasped her hand. When they began to climb back up to join the other Uchiha, Chieko turned to say goodbye and thank the Senju brothers, only to find that they were already gone.


	11. Clinophile

The small group was silent for the rest of the journey. It didn't take Chieko long to do a headcount, there were now only 14 Uchihas, meaning they had lost two shinobi.

Miho and Tsuki were still alive as was Izumi, the medic.

' _I wonder who died…'_ As she trailed off, Chieko nearly missed the shadow of the gates to the compound. As the massive structure loomed into view, she noticed how stark white it looked against the dark rock of the mountains and the orange of the sky. She paused behind the rest of the group to take in the sight, finding it very beautiful and frightening all the same. Some parts of the gate were stained with splatters of dark-brown and the bright orange of rust.

' _Must be fuckin' heavy.'_

"Chieko Uchiha, I want you to report to Izuna immediately." Snapping out of her reverie, she turned to watch the retreating form of Ibiki, who had just barked orders to her and turned away. Tsuki was brushing past him in the opposite direction, carrying two body scrolls with a stone-faced look.

Chieko followed orders, albeit slowly. It took her sometime to figure out just _where_ she was supposed to report to Izuna, using her sensory skills to locate exactly where he was in the massive compound. On her way, she walked passed a room that smelt terrible, like a storage room for bodies. Brushing the disturbing scent aside, she climbed up the stairs onto the first floor, the high walls of the compound blocking the view of the surrounding landscape. A dreary and bleak wind shifted through as she found the Uchiha she was looking for and knocked on the heavy wooden door.

' _Ah, a swinging door.'_ These were usually uncommon, as her people preferred simple, thin sliding doors. ' _Of course the weather here is too harsh for those. What would keep the warmth in?'_ Someone beckoned her inside and she leaned against the heavy door to push it open, realizing how worn out her muscles actually felt.

"Izuna-sama." She greeted, letting the door slam shut behind her. The room was lit up by several oil-lamps, the scent of jasmine tea wafting through the small room. Soft yellow light bounced off the pale walls. There was a shelf of scrolls in one corner and a massive map pinned up on the wall beside it. Right across the wall was a heavy desk and on the other side of the desk sat a petulant looking Izuna, chin resting in the palm of his left hand.

"Ah, Chieko-san. You were supposed to head back to the Eastern Compound."

Chieko, feeling as though she had let him down, deflated. "Circumstances ended up with me coming here, I had a little mishap on the mission you assigned."

' _Little mishap.'_ Izuna internally snorted in mockery, what happened with her had not been a mishap. Ibiki had sent up a clone ahead of the party to report on Chieko's abrupt arrival, citing Madara's suspicions of something more than a mishap. Izuna had put the pieces together a few minutes ago, after he'd received a report from the concerned medic.

Deciding not to question the girl about this ' _mishap',_ he continued his questioning regarding the mission.

"Where was the scroll delivered?"

"A few miles from the Senju compound, I personally handed it over to Tobirama Senju."

Izuna couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the name, nodding. "Well, that means your mission was a success. Good. You may now…" He trailed off, staring at the scatter on his desk, "You're tired. Go on, scram."

The shift to this colloquial attitude startled Chieko but she hid it under her dutiful gaze and lowered her head respectfully before turning to leave. She had to drag the door open, feeling her arms strain against its weight. Once she was outside, she leaned against the door and breathed.

As in, really breathed.

She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath in that room.

' _Or maybe I haven't been breathing deeply enough since after I got out of that cave.'_

She had to count in her head to get her breathing to even out. A shinobi passing by gave her a strange look. She shivered. She would have to layer up in this cold. Taking a deep breath, she hurried to the stairs. Her muscles had begun to ache in protest and she felt her thighs protest against the movement. However, she desperately wanted to reach the kunoichi barracks and get as far as she could from this block of offices.

It took her a painful twenty minutes to reach the barracks, and a few more terrible minutes for the old lady minding the rooms to give her a key and fresh sheets. Chieko barged into the room, only to find that there was another occupant. Tsuki.

"Hey there," She greeted Chieko tiredly, sitting on her bed, wrapped up in a black fuzzy blanket. Chieko smiled in return, her voice cracking as she returned the greeting. Wordlessly, she stripped her bed and replaced the sheets, leaving the red warm blanket given to her folded on top of it. Then she tore off her clothes and stepped into the little side room meant for washing up.

' _Tsuki seems just about as exhausted as me.'_ As Chieko rinsed the washcloth she was using to wash her body, she stared idly at her reflection. Her hair had come undone in places, her face was pale from exhaustion too. Her lips chapped from the cold and on her neck was a bruise she couldn't remember getting. Frowning, she looked down at her body and focused on scrubbing off as much dirt as she could. Once she was done, she pulled on the warm pajamas and a thick vest top, stepping out of the make-do bathroom.

"Tsuki-chan," She called tiredly to the girl who was reclining against the headboard of her bed, small book in hand. She peered at Chieko, the lines under her eyes more visible from where Chieko stood by the foot of her own bed. "Which two shinobi did we lose today?" Chieko's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. Tsuki put down her book, rubbing her eyes as she answered,

"We lost Haku and Tenzo."

Chieko dropped herself onto her bed, staring at Tsuki with dismay, "Tenzo? Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

What she didn't expect was the confused response Tsuki gave her, "Why are you sorry?"

Stuttering, she fluffed up her pillow and hugged it, "You two…you two were close. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Oh psh," She scoffed, frowning at Chieko, "We weren't close, we only did the naughty for like….twenty minutes. Didn't know him too well, but it is sad that he's…dead."

To Chieko, Tsuki didn't sound too upset at his death, writing it off as any other casualty. This shocked Chieko into silence and she lay down in her bed, pulling the fuzzy red blanket over her body and up to her chin. She stared at the wooden ceiling, her eyes following the strange patterns that nature had created and ingrained, wondering if life and fate were just randomly occurring patterns too.

An odd sadness permeated her thoughts, and she felt sorry for the two shinobi that were lost today. Surely, somewhere in the other compounds were people whom they had been dear to, who would mourn their deaths properly. Disturbed, Chieko turned over onto her side, facing away from Tsuki and shut her eyes. There was a throbbing light under her eyelids that gently dimmed, much like the flickering candlelight in the small room.

The next morning had crawled by, most of the shinobi rising at dawn, washing up under the streams of pink light. Chieko had made a trip to the bath-house, only to find that the men's section was incredibly busy, while the woman's section was relatively empty. Chieko was wrapping a towel around herself, folding her clothes into the shelf as she pulled the senbon out of her hair. She eyed it, cautiously concealing it under the folds of her clothes. Her hair tumbled down, shining a navy blue in the warm light of the newly rising sun. The only sounds were of the water just beyond the door and the birds chirping away at their breakfast.

Chieko wondered about her brother, sliding the door open to step gratefully into the steamy warmth of the hotspring. In the mist, she could make out one other kunoichi, dunking her head underwater and rising back to the surface. Chieko, not recognizing the woman, went ahead and let her towel drop, stepping tediously into the water on the other end. A welcoming sensation dowsed the goose-bumps on her skin, the cold seeping away as she soaked up the heated water. Sighing, she leaned against the end of the bath and sat down. The other kunoichi didn't look her way.

' _I'll have to go find Misaki-niisama afterwards…'_ She paused in her thought, eyes lidded as she added an afterthought, ' _If he's up this early.'_ Although Misaki and Chieko hadn't spent a lot of time together, Misaki's habit of sleeping in made him infamous.

Chieko dipped into the water, immersing her head before coming up and taking a deep breath. She was never too comfortable under water, always feeling the odd pressure in her ears and on her nose as if the water were trying to kill her. She reverted her thoughts to her family as she picked up the bar of soap and began washing her skin. She wondered what her mother was doing currently, and where her three other brothers were- ' _Were they even alive?'_

The idea that their deaths could have gone unnoticed made Chieko feel eerily mournful, remembering Tsuki's unaffected reaction from the previous night. Her other brothers had never been around, Misaki being the only one she had ever known. ' _I wonder why.'_ Humming balefully in response to herself, she washed the soap off her arms, finally ridding herself of the strange film of dirt that had built up over their travels. ' _Gross.'_ It didn't take her too long to wash her hair and as she climbed out of the spring, she realized the kunoichi had left at some point.

Wrapping her towel around herself, she hurried back inside, feeling the cold returning. Wanting to preserve the heat she had soaked up, she made a quick job of drying herself and wrapping the towel around her wet hair. She pulled on her undergarments and a shirt-vest to keep her chest warm. Layering was really the only option she had since her only clothes here were her under-armour shirts and standard shinobi trousers. Luckily, she had found herself a thick navy haori that she pulled on, pleased with the warmth it provided over her arms and shoulders. Towelling her hair, she sat down on one of the rickety-looking stools near her, comb in hand as she parted the thick strands and did away with any tangles. Finding it odd that it was so quiet, she heard the ' _thwack'_ of another sliding door and the loud sounds of men talking and laughing from next door. She waited in the warmth of the changing room for her hair to dry a bit more before she stepped out, her dark hair falling down her back in a thick, heavy curtain. The fact that it was damp irritated her, but she thanked the woman at the entrance politely and stepped out into the crisp morning, taking a deep breath of the mountain air.

' _Now to find Misaki.'_

She was sure that he would be somewhere in the barracks, probably in one of the upper rooms, considering his obsession with having 'nice views'. She was vaguely aware of the fact that her brother liked to stay up till he was sure they weren't going to be secretly ambushed. It was a habit she remembered him having since she could ever remember knowing him.

' _Although, if we ever did get ambushed, Misaki-nii would probably sleep through it.'_

Yawning and stretching her arms, she scratched her elbow as she blinked the wave of drowsiness out of her eyes. If Misaki was awake, they could have breakfast together. Arriving at the men's barracks, Chieko realized it was exactly like the smaller kunoichi barracks and that the buildings stood back-to-back, leaving no street or alley between them. Humming, she climbed up to the porch, looking around for some sort of desk or on-duty shinobi. She withered once she realized there was no such arrangement here, and decided to seek her brother out the way she had Izuna the other day. It took her a few minutes to sweep through the ground floor, noting that her brother wasn't here as she climbed up the steps hidden away in a dark corner where the light did not reach it. Once she was on the landing of the second floor, she glanced up and accidentally let out a gasp. Madara was peering down at her, his face strangely illuminated in the dark stairway, highlighting the arch of his brow-bone and the gentle curve of his chin.

"Madara-sama." She greeted hastily, seeming to root herself in place. He let out a tired sigh and then something flashed across his eyes.

"Misaki isn't up yet. But you are. I could use your help." He spoke so colloquially that it surprised Chieko, she had only been formal with him up till now and she bristled cautiously, wondering if Madara was purposefully trying to loosen her up so he could tell her off later. Apparently, he had a terrible temper and was incredibly grouchy most mornings.

"Of…Of course!" Clasping her hands in front of her she bowed respectfully, Madara squirmed in impatience, his voice buzzing through the silence of the drowsy barracks, "Alright. Come then, we have to head to the office. Your brother will join us later in the day."

Both Uchihas added a mental comment, ' _When he wakes up.'_ Slightly miffed that she couldn't meet her brother yet, she followed the young man in silence. A disdainful look was evident on her face but she was quick to conceal it when Madara began assigning her a few tasks to go over.

The first one of those tasks was "Make sure my breakfast tray is brought to wherever I'm working, and make sure Izuna actually eats his. You know where he usually works now, right?" Assuming he'd be in the room she had reported to him in, she nodded.

"Also, he'll have a bunch of unread messages this morning from the other compounds. I need you to list down all the casualties so that I know how many men we've lost over this week. I want names not just figures." Chieko nodded again, groaning inwardly at the tediously depressing task that lay ahead. "Once you're done with that, I'll give you some other work." They had reached the offices block, Madara heading to a door, pushing it open with ease. Before he stepped in, he turned to look at Chieko over his shoulder and added, "Make sure they put Spring Onion in my omelette."

As he vanished into the doorway, he left Chieko staring after him.


	12. Agoraphobia

**Hello! As it turns out, this story has taken a bit of a silly turn. There will be strange, unrealistic things happening. Like Tobirama and Hashirama going to a party.**

 _ **Eitherway,**_ **I hope you enjoy this particularly fun chapter. I have not forgotten that this is supposed to be a TobiramaXOc story, but while the Uchihas are Uchihas, there will be some MadaraXOc because such is the chemistry of the characters.**

 **I would love to hear what all of you think of the story so far, criticism is always, always much appreciated!**

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

' _Make sure Izuna actually eats his breakfast.'_

Chieko had taken Madara's words rather lightly.

Izuna didn't even look up when she brought his tray of breakfast in. It had been hard enough to push the door open with her arms _full._

' _What an ungrateful little stumpy skinny-'_

Chieko blanked out the rest of the thought as she let the door slam behind her, nostrils flaring as she glared down at Izuna, who was snoring away on his desk. She placed the tray onto the desk as _silently_ as she could, blaming the _weight_ of the damned thing for the loud 'thud'.

"Izuna-sama."

The boy dismissed her voice, grumbling as he opened one eye to stare lazily at her. "I'm busy Chieko-san."

"Then just sit up with your mouth open so I can put _all this shit_ down your throat."

Chieko, although secretly wishing she could have said this, nearly jumped at the male voice that had spoken up behind her.

"I'm not hungry niisan."

"I don't care if you're hungry or not. You have to eat."

Stepping away from the desk and out of Madara's line of sight, Chieko pressed herself to the wall beside the now fully open door.

' _How on earth did he manage to throw this massive thing open without making a sound?'_

Without a word, she slipped out, heaving a sigh of relief.

* * *

 _A few days ago._

"Chieko! Take Madara-sama's breakfast before it gets cold!"

"Chieko, you better make sure his shirts are washed in hot water!"

"Chiekoooooo! HIS TEA WILL GET COLD IF YOU DON'T RUN!"

"NO STOP, IF YOU RUN TOO FAST IT'LL GET COLD!"

' _Misaki-nii must be the best housemaid in this entire damned sh-'_

"Chieko. Did Izuna eat his breakfast?"

Without having to turn to know it was Madara-sama, Chieko paled and shrunk. "I…I left his tray at his desk, right in front of him."

"I asked you if he _ate_ it." Madara emphasised on the verb carefully, irritation in his voice. The poor girl seemed to wither even further, "I…I don't know."

"Don't you think you should go and see?"

It had been a few hours since she'd given Izuna his breakfast, returning to Madara's office to inform

him that she was done with the task. She'd then set to work on the report, hurrying through the list of casualties from one message to the other. After placing the report on Madara's desk, instead of receiving a thank you or a word of gratitude, Madara had extended his hand and given her a folded piece of paper.

"These have your instructions for the day, read it outside." He paused thoughtfully and Chieko could swear she saw his mouth twitch, "Make sure the old lady doesn't see you."

She gave him a suspicious look, but wordlessly bowed and stepped out, her heart hammering as she unfolded the piece of paper. Her eye twitched.

 _Today's work:_

 _Laundry_

 _Armor repair and clean-up_

 _Sort out maps in room 34_

 _Make sure the jasmine tea is fresh (check the kitchen)_

 _Find a specific red, fuzzy blanket. Search all the barracks if you must._

As she read through the list, she felt it become more and more bizarre.

 _Politely inform Izuna that I asked him to keep it down tonight. (Politely, he minds.)_

 _Make sure to ask what sort of Sake we're expecting tonight. Inform me._

 _Ensure that Kenji has made appropriate arrangements for gate-duty._

 _Ask the old lady for a yukata._

Chieko frowned and then let out an exasperated growl, storming madly down the hallway, only to collide into someone she _clearly hadn't seen._

"Ow ow ow! Watch where you're sauntering- oh, imouto."

Much to her chagrin and her annoyance, a familiar hand was ruffling her neatly combed hair.

"Fancy seeing you here! Haha!"

' _Such a fraudulent laugh you lazy, incompetent scum.'_

"Misaki-nii." Chieko's voice was eerily calm, internally she was seething with rage. Her older brother took a precautionary step back as his face paled. She held up a list in front of him, "I've replaced you on the _housekeeping chores."_

"Oh fancy that, I bet it asks you to look me up at some point!" An unexpected voice spoke up from behind Misaki, and the siblings turned to look pointedly at the stranger who let out a nervous chuckle and greeted her older brother, "How's it going Misaki-taichou?"

Her brother in turn, returned a stony look, a flat tone to his annoyed voice. He wanted to deal with his sister first. "Hello, Kenji."

Ignoring the man for the rest of the conversation he turned back to his beloved imouto, "Ah thanks so much Chieko! I owe you! I'm _incredibly, terribly_ busy with all this work today! I have to run, but I will catch up with you soon." He patted her shoulder and then leaned in to give her an unexpected and loud smooch on her left cheek. Pulling away, he gave her a fake grin, and ruffled her hair again. "See ya around Chi-kun!"

Cringing at the name, she glared at him as he strutted away, her face heating up with anger.

"Uh…If Madara-sama asked for you to see me about guard-duty tonight, I've already got that covered…."

This Kenji Uchiha seemed to trail off both out of fear and nervousness. Chieko's head had snapped back to him, light-grey eyes piercing him. He felt his cheeks flush as he stared at her properly for the first time.

Her hair was long and dark, cascading smoothly down her back. It framed her delicate oval-shaped face and her pale skin only made her eyelashes look darker and fuller. A small mouth pouted in annoyance and possibly anger. She shared her nose with Misaki-taichou, a delicately boned straight nose that looked like it had never been broken. He realized suddenly, the blush succeeding in finding the surface of his cheeks, that she was absolutely stunning.

"Good."

She moved to scratch the Kenji-task off her list, her voice smooth and cool. All the rage seemed to rise up behind those _dreamy, beautiful, charming_ eyes and dissipate like _evaporating water._

Kenji shook the last part of the sentence out of his head, 'evaporating water' didn't sound too charming at all. When he returned his attention to the Uchiha, she was walking away in the other direction, her haori framing her small shoulders perfectly. As he stared at her, he caught someone's eye just ahead. Misaki was looking back at Kenji with a murderous look, shielded behind a stoic emotionless face. Kenji withered noticeably and back away with his arms raised in defence.

'… _Misaki-taichou, you never said your sister was a killer!'_

* * *

"That's the thing, Hashirama. I've never actually seen her kill anyone."

"Oh?" Hashirama took a sip of his sake, staring ahead of himself amusedly. They were sitting on the porch of Botsuma-sama's residence. Tobirama had taken up Hashirama's goading as an opportunity to vent at how _obstinate_ the girl he had been trapped with had been.

"Yeah, even when she attacked me, she wasn't intending on fighting me, just pinning my arms down." Tobirama immediately regretted revealing this detail. Hashirama wriggled his fingers at his brother, a teasing smirk flashing across his face, "Held you down, you say?"

A wry look flashed across Tobirama's face and his lips twitched in the slightest of smirks. Hashirama could not deny that his otouto had a fine taste in women. "Maybe the two of you are….star-crossed lovers!"

Barking a laugh, Hashirama slapped his knee as Tobirama wrung his head in embarrassment, the girl's tediously grey eyes flashing in his mind. He wanted to shake his head clear of such images.

"You know they have that…coming of age ball soon right? Chieko looks old enough for it."

Tobirama's ears perked up and he silently watched his older brother, "Soon your beloved Chieko will be in the arms of another, of her _husband to be!_ Don't the Uchiha have a taste for romance? We should have something like that too." Hashirama begin to scratch his chin. This left Tobirama blanching at his brother rather… _awkwardly._ A look of dismay flashed across his handsome face as he turned away from his brother to watch an old woman walking past, rather slowly.

"Maybe you'll never see her on battlefield again, otouto!" Hashirama's loud statement rang heavily in Tobirama's ears and his eyebrows sunk lower on his face, "Niisama, you say the most ridiculous things."

"Aha, don't I?" Hashirama smiled into the distance, a far-off look on his face.

' _Probably thinking of his beloved Mito.'_ Thought Tobirama, watching his brother's expression with a thoughtful one of his own.

"Oh, by the way…" Hashirama trailed off, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, "We're invited."

Tobirama crossed his arms and turned to stare at his brother, expecting him to laugh it off. Hashirama however, continued, a grin on his face. "Madara extended an invitation…but we would have to go under guises, of course."

Tobirama clenched his jaw, "Why on earth would any Senju step foot in an Uchiha compound, even secretly? Are you out of your mind, niisama?"

His voice was a low hiss as he seethed at his brother, reaching down to pull his sandals onto his feet. Hashirama placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder, speaking seriously after enough banter. "Madara has requested that I be there, it could be a trap, but I trust him. We've been negotiating around our borders secretly. Neither of our fathers know. We could…work something out eventually. We could have some sort of truce. But until then, we can only fraternize in disguises."

Tobirama's stoic expression had vanished, he stared wide eyed at his older brother, an almost childlike manner to his staring. Hashirama could only smile encouragingly and ruffled his brother's hair.

"A certain Kenji Uchiha will be letting us in under the guises of," He pointed a finger at Tobirama, "Obito Uchiha and," He pointed to himself, "Masashi Uchiha."

"Who?" Tobirama, suddenly irritated, raised an eyebrow at his brother and this terrible, terrible plan.

"You remember that short-haired, tall, fair Uchiha that's always with Madara?"

Tobirama stared incredulously in response, ' _They all look the same to me.'_

"Ne, the one that has the really light grey eyes." Chieko's eyes suddenly came to mind, and Tobirama placed the man Hashirama was talking about, "You mean Uchiha Misaki?" Hashirama nodded, putting his palms together in mock-seriousness. "Obito and Masashi are his older brothers. Nobody has met them, they're not too well-known. We can pull them off for a night."

"And how do we know what they look like?"

Tobirama had only finished asking his question when Hashirama stood, gesturing his brother to follow. Much to Tobirama's dismay as he followed, they were heading towards the place they detained prisoners.

* * *

Stepping into the kitchen, even if just to check for _sake,_ had been a terrible mistake on Chieko's part. Everywhere, apron-clad Uchiha men and women were rushing around, carrying pots and pans and dishes. They were barking orders to-and-fro, young maidens mostly assisting elderly cooks. Standing at the door with a darkened expression, Chieko took slow, cautious steps down the small stairs that ended in the massive kitchen. She pressed herself up against the wall as someone rushed passed with a massive pot of soup.

"What do you want girl?" An old man with crescent-eyes spat at her. Chieko dodged the little drops of saliva as she moved towards him.

"Madara-sama sent me to check what sake there will be tonight…" She trailed off, her brain suddenly ringing with an observation, "Say…what is all this for?" She gestured with her flat palms to the rest of the kitchen. The old man hadn't moved, staring at her idly.

"Answer me girl, what do you want?" She dodged spit again, realizing he was weak of hearing. Begrudgingly, she moved towards him and spoke loudly, "Madara-sama wants to know what sake there will be tonight."

"Ah, yes, yes." He nodded, stirring the broth he was attending to, "His favorite kind. We pulled it out of the cellar yesterday as he asked." Chieko nodded in response, speaking loudly to ask him the question, "What is all this preparation for?"

She spoke a little too loudly, because the whole kitchen seemed to slowly freeze. Everyone paused what they were doing to stare at the girl and she squirmed, giving an embarrassed smile to the denizens of this basement-hell.

A young woman, closest to her, answered her question with a kind smile as if she were reminding Chieko of something she had simply forgotten, "Today is the coming of age dinner, when all the youngsters debut as adults….?"

Chieko blinked and slapped her forehead comically, "Of course! Aha! How could I forget?" She let out a forced laugh, and everyone else shook their heads and chuckled. The bustle resumed as Chieko crept out of the kitchen, wiping the sweat off her face.

' _That kitchen was way too fucking humid. Kami.'_

Returning hurriedly to Madara's office, she knocked once on the door, a deep voice allowing her to come in. Before she stepped inside, she eyed the sun. It wasn't even at its highest point yet, meaning noon was still far.

"Madara-sama, I went to the kitch-" Chieko froze, her eyes meeting Madara's annoyed stare. He was standing over his desk, one arm pressing down on something- he was trying to dab spilled ink off a letter.

"Ah, spilled some ink?" Calmly, she stepped closer and peered at the mess. A massive puddle of black ink sat in the centre of the letter, completely covering whatever was written on it.

' _Did he empty an entire fucking bottle?'_ A strained look made itself obvious on Chieko's face, not going unnoticed by the only other person in the room.

Madara wordlessly continued to dab up the black liquid, tearing his frightfully cold gaze away from the kunoichi. Chieko eyed the mess again and moved to pick up a stack of papers off the desk and placed them on an empty spot in the shelf, saving them from possible staining.

"Do you have something that needs to be rewritten?" She asked cautiously, standing by the shelf as Madara wiped up the ink and tossed the now black cloth into the bin in the corner. Wiping his hands on another small cloth, he shook his head "No. Everything is fine." He then peeled the remnants of the soggy stained paper and trashed it.

' _I never asked if anything was wrong.'_ She withered internally, more in irritation than disappointment. Brushing the matter aside with an equally cold look, she spoke up. "I went to the kitchen, they have the sake you requested. I found the red blanket you were looking for and had it sent to your room. About the yukata-"

Before she could finish, Madara had sat back down on his chair and leaned back to peer at the girl through his lashes. "The yukata is for you. Considering you're also a kunoichi, kimonos would be far too formal."

She blinked at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Madara however, amused at her surprise, continued. "You can ask the old lady that minds your barracks, she will have one of your size. It is preferable that you wear something of the clan colours so that you aren't too noticeable."

She was about to raise an eyebrow, when the door slid open with a ' _thwack'_ and her brother stepped in. "Oh, Chieko, I was looking for you."

Chieko glanced at her brother over her shoulder and then at the heir, "Eh, Madara-sama I'm not sure I should be attending."

' _Although, I have had my first blood and technically count as an adult.'_

The sentence hung in the air, and Chieko awkwardly wondered whether her brother knew she had finally hit puberty at the age of 16, last year. Misaki cleared his throat, brushing past his younger sister to seat himself against the end of Madara's desk. He exchanged a communicating glance with the young leader and they turned their gaze back to Chieko simultaneously. Under the stare of both men, she felt her cheeks flush.

Misaki spoke up before Madara could, "Tajima-sama has requested that you attend. You are the only girl in the family and he wants to see that you find a proper suitor."

' _Goddammit.'_ She had hoped to keep her monthly blood a secret.

Madara had brought his palms together, sitting in his chair with an expression akin to zoning out, as he stared at an empty sheet of paper on his desk.

"Then why do I have to make sure I'm not _too noticeable?_ "

The question, although directed at her brother, was meant to nag Madara. He sat up in his chair, one hand running through his hair as he pushed it off his face, it fell back onto his forehead anyway. He hadn't moved to respond, he simply busied himself by sifting through a different stack of papers on his desk. Misaki, eyeing Madara, turned his gaze back to Chieko.

"I think you're too young to participate in…some of the other _festivities."_

At the emphasized word, Chieko noted Madara's raised eyebrows as he buried his nose even further into one of the papers he had picked up.

"Oh…" Chieko felt her cheeks flush again as she nodded at her older brother, "I understand, Misaki-niisama." He grinned in response, "Great! I think you're done for today, most of the kunoichi will be…working on their appearances today."

He tapped the desk and as if on cue, Madara dismissed her, "Ah yeah, Chieko. You have the rest of the day off. We will see you tonight." He gave her a tight-lipped smile.

' _They're like a married couple.'_ She thought scornfully, sliding the door shut behind her. Her cheeks heated up again as she went over their conversation. If Tajima-sama had _ordered_ for her to attend, it meant her _mother_ had informed him about how much she was _worried_ about her daughter. Having had her first blood at 16, she was older than most girls who were hitting puberty, the average age being 14.

Her mind wandered back to the clan leader. ' _I bet the whole fucking clan knows I finally hit puberty. I bet mother even celebrated.'_

Surely enough, the beautiful lady-mother of Misaki and Chieko had had a tea-party going in full swing the day she was informed.

' _When I find out who told her…'_ Chieko scoffed. Word travelled quickly, people, especially medics and maids had the best gossip on _who_ was doing _who_ and _what_ was happening to _who,_ etc.

She made her way down the stairs of the office, brushing past a vaguely familiar shinobi she had seen somewhere. Her mind wandered to the night that approached, very slowly, and the awkward reprimand her brother had given her. In her internal voice, she mocked him.

' _Too young to attend. What sort of festivities could I possibly be too young for?'_ Even little children celebrated things. She mulled over the word in her head, realizing what sort of festivities followed the idea of 'coming of age'.

' _Festivities. Of course.'_ She slapped her forehead again as she made her way back to the barracks, her shoulders drooped. She suddenly felt very strange.

' _Would they all be participating….together?'_ Cringing at the image, she shook her head. ' _Ew. Of course not. It's not an orgy.'_ She made a note to ask Tsuki about what would be happening there. As she left the block she walked past the massive gate. Kenji was standing with a group of shinobi and he waved at her as she walked by them. All the young men turned in her direction and she smiled shyly, hastening her steps to get away from them.

Groups of alien men made her nervous. The tightening in her gut suddenly made its presence known and she groaned. Now was not the time to have her anxiety raining down on her, especially if she _had_ to attend tonight's dinner or whatever it was supposed to be.

' _At least there'll be food.'_

* * *

Tsuki was sitting on her bed, painting her nails a bright red.

"Chieko! Where have you been? Don't you have preparations to do for tonight?" She wriggled her eyebrows at her friend. Chieko paused in the doorway, sighing heavily. "I had to do all this work for…my brother." Not wanting to talk too much about Madara, who Tsuki was infatuated with, she did not divulge too much of her morning.

"Well, well, I got you something that will look absolutely _amazing_ on your complexion! It's on your bed. Go look!"

Tsuki sounded so excited that Chieko had no choice but to shut the door and hurry to the bed. Picking up the tiny bottle, she stared at it in confusion.

"It's nailpaint." Chieko's observation hung in the room as Tsuki nodded excitedly, "It's dark blue, it'll look really, really, good on you. I'll help you put it on."

Almost twenty minutes later, Chieko was staring at her hands with fascination. "They look…really good."

"Yes! Yes they do! Oh my God, you're going to have the best man's heart tonight. Or maybe a little bit more…" She snickered and Chieko blushed, pouting in annoyance.

"I…I'm not into that kind of thing Tsuki."

Tsuki paused and blinked curiously at Chieko,

"Are you a lesbian?"

Blushing an even deeper red, Chieko shook her head. "No! Of course not!"

"Then what?"

"I…Well, it makes me uncomfortable."

"But sex is amazing."

Tsuki turned away to fish through a chest of clothes. Suddenly feeling grievously disturbed, Chieko shot up to hurry to the door, "Ah, I'll be back."

Stepping out of the room, Chieko recalled the awkward, horrible thrusting sensations from that night. Her head began to throb and she pressed her palms to her eyes, suppressing a sob. She crept down the hall, thankful for the darkness that hid away her pained expression. With each step, she felt a surge of unfamiliar emotion.

' _I have to stop thinking about it.'_

She shook her head, stopping to lean against a cold wall. As she pressed her forehead to the surface, a voice echoed through her mind.

" _You're alright Chieko. You're alright. I'm here."_

The image of a white-haired Senju flashed through her mind, and her chest constricted a little. Hugging herself, she tried to even out her breathing, shaking her head and slamming her forehead against the wall to calm herself. Slowly, she felt her shoulders relax, although wearily. Her body seemed too tense for her to move gracefully, so she clumsily clambered down the stairs to fetch herself some clothing from the old lady.

' _I'm fine. I'm alright. I can do this.'_


	13. Alcohol

_Party time._

* * *

"Hashirama," Tobirama trailed off, as the gate to the Uchiha compound loomed before them. It had been an hour since the sun had gone down. "How will we get in?"

Spotting the two 'Uchiha', Kenji opened the gate and called out to them

"Obito! Masashi! Welcome to the northern compound!"

The Uchiha's sing-song voice floated down to them, and Tobirama could see his brother internally squirming with glee. Tobirama on the other hand, was panicking. The transformation jutsus required chakra, but Madara's instructions indicated that they use this specific jutsu alone and nothing else. The several skilled shinobi within the compound would be able to identify their different chakra signature within seconds.

' _If they haven't already felt out presence.'_

Inside the compound, the ball was in full swing, having begun at sun down with the traditional barrel-opening. Sake was spread all around, it was considered bad luck if even _one_ Uchiha were left without a cup in hand. The ball was being held in the open training field, and there were easily _hundreds_ of dark-haired individuals. Chieko hadn't seen a congregation of this many women before, even with the kunoichi out on the battlefield.

"Hey, Tsuki-chan wh-" Chieko spoke before she turned to look at her friend, only to find the other girl gone, chatting amiably with a group of people that looked like they were already well-acquainted.

Suddenly conscious of the casual kimono Tsuki had literally thrown her into, she tugged at the navy material and glanced down at her fingernails, realizing that they matched the kimono. She had only just looked up from her hands when she felt a warm arm drape over her shoulders. She didn't have to turn to recognize her brother.

"Otouto, how come you don't have a drink?"

Chieko glanced up at her brother, semi-glaring. "You know I don't drink."

"It's considered bad luck, you better have some." He said with mock-seriousness, holding up his cup in front of her. She stared at it, "No."

"I wasn't asking." He wrigged his eyebrows teasingly and put the cup to her lips. Hesitantly, she took a sip, immediately clenching her eyes and scrunching her nose, as she swallowed. "Ew, what the fuck. Why does that taste worse than usual?!"

"It's Madara-sama's favorite," Misaki hugged her shoulder, pulling his sister closer as he stared around at the crowd, "Better not let him hear you insult it."

Chieko frowned, instead only managing a nonchalant look. Uchihas weren't always the best at expressions. However, Misaki wasn't paying attention to her face, instead he stood by her possessively staring at the men that dared her a glance. He had never felt the feverish urgency to keep an eye on anyone as much as he did right now.

"Niisama, you're embarrassing me now. Let me go."

"Oh, I would love to but…." He turned his head with such force that Chieko looked up at him and then in the direction he was staring as he murmured, "Duty calls."

Madara had just arrived within Chieko's view for the first time that night. He was dressed formally, his navy Uchiha-crested haori resting on his shoulders. He looked like a vision, Chieko thought. She wasn't the only one, most of the kunoichi had preened at the sight of their future-leader, as had the elderly people that were attending.

The ball was never limited to just new-adults. Couples, young and old attended. The only people not allowed were children.

Following him were two shinobi that looked very unfamiliar and very uncomfortable.

' _Well, only one of them looks tense. Maybe he needs some sake.'_

Madara was speaking to one of the two, a strange look in both their eyes. The third stood with his hands by his side, as if he were on guard. His gaze wandered to Misaki and then to the shorter person standing next to him.

' _That must be Uchiha Misaki.'_ Tobirama had made note of the silvery-grey eyes that peered at him curiously from beneath a forehead of dark, messy bangs. Next to him, practically stuck to his side infact, was a woman. Tobirama felt his shoulders become even stiffer at the sight.

Uchiha Chieko was peering at him, her head levelling with Misaki's shoulder. Her eyes, more steel than silver, peered back at him. She was very aware that he had seen her. She was dressed in a kimono, her hair let down completely. It glittered in the light of the many lamps hung above them. It took Tobirama a few seconds to register the similarities between Misaki and Chieko.

"Madara."

The Uchiha turned to Hashirama as he gestured towards Misaki, Tobirama remaining watchfully behind them. There were more Senju, concealed and hiding away from the ball but lurking near enough to keep an eye on what was happening. Tobirama was surprised Madara had allowed them in.

Misaki was walking towards them, leaving Chieko behind. She had turned her gaze away from them and ventured over to one of the tables that held an array of snacks, fingering a biscuit as she picked it up. Tobirama was acutely aware of the way her eyes travelled back to them.

' _I wonder if they're related.'_ He felt something within him begin to simmer as he realised they looked like a handsome couple standing next to each other.

"Obito-nii! Masashi!"

Misaki ruffled Hashirama's hair and placed a callous hand on Tobirama's shoulder. The Senju gave him a vague smile, Hashirama playing the part of a joyous brother better than he did.

Madara gave Tobirama a curious stare, having followed his gaze when he'd seen him following Chieko with his disguised eyes. Tobirama, uncharacteristically, took a step closer to Madara and whispered to him.

"How come nobody recognizes our chakra signatures?" He leaned his head towards the Uchiha heir, ensuring nobody could listen in.

Madara would have sneered if he wasn't watching Hashirama with such intensity, "That is for me to know and you to wonder about." The Senju scoffed and looked away, only meaning to look away from Madara and not intending to make eye contact with Chieko.

She must have seen something strange, because she seemed to be alarmed. For a few seconds, across the grounds, they held each other's gazes.

They were clearly distracted, Chieko looked very confused.

' _Who the hell is this guy?'_ Chieko felt irritated, wondering whether this man had been staring at her. ' _What a fucking creep.'_ Their gaze made her eyes prickle with an odd, overwhelming warmth.

She was pulled out of her seething glare when Misaki called out to her. He was standing with the other Uchiha she had seen and was pointing to her and waving.

"That's our little sister, I know you guys have never had the chance to meet her, but there she is, in all her glory." He said the last bit with a puff of pride and Hashirama cast his little brother a look.

She waved at them shyly, and seemed to jump as a female ran up to her, grabbed her arms and tugged her away. She shot the three an apologetic look. Misaki laughed.

"Tsuki, what are you doing?!" Chieko sounded more annoyed than she felt, curious about the men standing with her brother.

' _Why is Madara-sama staring at them so intently?'_ She had noticed that Madara never tore his gaze away from one of them. ' _…Maybe Madara-sama is…..'_ Chieko shook her head, aware of the many women Madara had taken nights with as a teenager. She had often heard Misaki teasing him about it.

Blushing at the thought, she seemed to see through the shinobi Tsuki was excitedly introducing her to.

"Oh…Yes, it's nice to meet you." She answered vaguely, feeling a tug in her chest and looking over her shoulder. Misaki and the others were nowhere in sight. She deflated, politely excusing herself as she wandered over to the sake. She poured herself a cup, staring at it contemplatively.

' _Well, if I don't drink it, it's fine. Tastes like shit anyway.'_

She leaned against the table, eyes dancing over the crowd. Everyone seemed…unusually happy.

' _Who knew the Uchiha drank so much.'_ Tobirama observed sullenly as he followed his brother and Madara around. Misaki had been standing next to him a moment ago talking about their traditions, and then he had been distracted by someone addressing him as ' _taichou'_ in a drunken slur. They had left him behind, chatting up a group of already too-drunk men.

Hashirama and Madara were adamant on speaking with Tobirama out of earshot. The younger Senju felt annoyed, but he felt so tense surrounded by this many Uchiha, that he forgot to mind.

* * *

Chieko took a sip of the alcohol as she stepped away from the table. So far, nobody had really tried to talk to her and it felt disheartening. As she made her way through the crowd, she paused as she spotted Misaki talking flirtatiously to a short-haired woman that Chieko vaguely recognized from the hotsprings. Deflating even further, she took another sip and continued on her way, deciding to return to her room despite it being so early.

Tobirama spotted the female staring idly at her older brother, taking a swig from her cup. He felt his mouth twitch in amusement and as if she could feel him looking at her, she looked over her shoulder at him. When their eyes met, Tobirama unintentionally grinned sheepishly. He wasn't sure why he had, but she narrowed her eyes and strode towards him.

"Do I know you?" She didn't sound too polite and Tobirama stepped up to the challenge, taking a step towards her.

"I'm one of your brothers. We've never met, as far as I know."

She blanked, her jaw clenching as she scrutinized him.

' _Why on earth is she sizing me up?'_

She looked excessively disturbed, and took another sip holding her finger up and indicating him to come closer. He raised an eyebrow, not budging. From behind them, Madara spotted the odd exchange. It didn't take him too long to realize Chieko _wasn't_ intoxicated enough to miss the familiar chakra of Tobirama Senju.

Chieko, realizing the marauder wasn't going to budge, took a step closer. Her toes brushed his and her hair tickled his nose. She whispered to him, trying to look as friendly as possible.

"Why are you here? You know I can recognize your chakra right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about _im_ _outo_."

The term sounded forced, Tobirama internally cringed. Chieko frowned at him and then glanced at the people around her, taking another sip of her sake. "What's more interesting to me is why these other people don't recognize you."

Tobirama had no time to respond as Madara stepped up behind Chieko, resting a gentle hand on her elbow as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. The act altogether, looked too intimate and Tobirama took a step back and tore his eyes away, feeling as if he was interrupting something.

Chieko however, was not familiar with this sort of closeness and stiffened under Madara's touch.

"He's a guest. Ask no questions now, and be on your way." He pulled away from her to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear as she stared at him, bug-eyed.

' _Why on earth did I just do that?'_ Madara forced a smile, gesturing with his eyes for Chieko to leave.

Chieko's cheeks flushed a dark maroon as she stepped away from Madara, feeling discomfort creep up her legs to the base of her spine. She glanced at Tobirama once, eyeing his guise. Madara noticed the look in her eyes, a disdainful sort of pining. He wondered if she realized it herself, excusing herself as she turned to gracefully drift back into the crowd.

Tobirama watched her go, having felt her discomfort. A surge of something made him want to walk after her and somehow undo the way Madara had touched her. Although it hadn't been much, it seemed too personal a gesture.

Madara and Hashirama returned to business, and Tobirama returned to watching them from a distance. More than a few times, women came over and talked to him. Mostly they were too intoxicated to speak clearly, other times they seemed too lady-like, too polite and refrained. It was an odd combination and it was an even odder thing to be addressed so _nicely_ by what Tobirama saw as nefariously beautiful serpents.

' _Serpents, huh.'_ He mused at the word, deciding it didn't apply to all of them. His eyes wandered over the crowd and landed on Chieko again. He frowned. She was talking to Izuna, possibly cracking some sort of joke from the way both their eyes crinkled and they laughed. Izuna seemed distracted, turning to greet another female.

Chieko smiled politely at the other girl, remaining behind Izuna as he forgot he had been speaking to her. She wrung her hands and turned her head, meeting Tobirama's gaze for a few seconds before someone moved and blocked the invisible thread that seemed to bind the two through the night.

' _Why is he always looking my way?'_ She didn't sour at the thought, feeling flattered that the Senju's eyes followed her everywhere. Suddenly, a surge of uncomfortable thoughts reminded her that he was well acquainted with her bare form and she suddenly felt sick. Nearly dropping the cup, she thrust it into the hands of a passing woman and turned away abruptly.

Chieko hastened unsteadily, away from the brightly lit grounds of the ball. In the distance she heard the sound of the bells indicating that dinner was going to be served. People would sober up soon after eating.

As she hurried into the blue-green shadows cast by the close light of the moon, she leaned against a wall of one of the houses, and bent over, desperately urging her stomach to let her be sick. However, the nausea remained lingering in the base of her belly. She let out a soft sob and straightened up, running her hands down her face.

She looked over her shoulder to make sure nobody had followed her. There was only the shadows painting their way back to the edges of light that lined the field. She had walked quiet far, and her head spun. She hadn't drunk that much either. She pressed her palms against her eyes and sobbed again, feeling a sudden rush of loneliness as dark as the shadow she stood in.

' _What's wrong with me?'_

"Chieko?" A familiar voice called out, she peered around in the dark, trying to locate the voice.

"Tobirama?"

He stepped out, still under the disguise of one of her brothers, but his eyes had resumed their rose-hue.

"Hey." She mumbled weakly, smiling tiredly at him. He tilted his head as he took another step, hesitating as he placed his hands on her shoulders, "Are you alright?"

She smiled vaguely at him, feeling a fuzziness in her head. She hummed and nodded, "I'm fine. I think that sake was too strong for me."

"It's been spiked." He whispered to her, bending a little to meet her eyes as she cast them downwards. There was a warm finger under her chin as he pulled her face back up. "Keep your head up, Uchiha."

She smiled at him, feeling a verbal onslaught slip out of her mouth, "I want to see your face." She mumbled, her hands cupping his face. He seemed to freeze under her cold fingertips, "I thought about you today. It made me feel better." Her eyes narrowed, but not in that dangerous, angry way.

Tobirama felt his chest constrict as he stepped away from her, keeping his hands on her shoulders to make sure she kept her distance. "You need water." He mumbled.

"I don't. I'm fine." Regaining her sense, she flushed and looked away from him towards the field. "Madara-sama will be looking for you, you should go back."

Curiously regarding her, he released her shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back, standing tall again. "Are you and Madara-sama…close?"

She frowned and smiled, a petulant, disbelieving look apparent on her face. "Not for shit. I don't know why he got all over-friendly with me down there."

Her eyes were lidded and she yawned. "Anyway, _niisan._ " The mockery in her voice made it difficult for him to conceal his smirk, "We should get back." She offered him her arm and he stared at it questioningly, unsure of himself.

"I need your help to walk, unless you want to watch me roll back."

Regarding her with a less-guarded look, he took her arm, relieved to find the warmth returning to her body. They slowly made their way back to the celebration, shoulders bumping as they walked.

"Oh, by the way, you gotta hide your eyes." She had turned to look at him, only to find him looking down at her with steely-grey eyes, much like hers. They shared a secret smile.

"Obito!" A loud voice made Chieko jump away from the younger Senju, locating the source quickly. Masashi, or rather, _Hashirama,_ stood by one the trees. With him was Madara Uchiha and another man Chieko didn't recognize. Madara was regarding her with a detached expression and she followed Tobirama, trailing behind him as he wandered over to his brother.

"We will be taking our leave now. Madara, thank you for the night. Chieko-san, it was a pleasure to see you today." He gave her a cheeky smile that made her giggle and she quickly covered it up with a polite smile and a bow.

Tobirama stood silently by his brother as Madara addressed them, "It was an honour to have you here, brother." From the corner of his vision, he saw Chieko blanch in his direction.

Kenji Uchiha was approaching, he would be escorting the Senju out. As they turned to leave, Tobirama's gaze lingered on Chieko, only to be blocked by Madara who had turned around and stood in front of the woman.

As they departed, Chieko tore her gaze away from them to Madara, who stared questioningly at her.

"I didn't know you were so familiar with the younger one."

"I didn't know you were familiar with them at all."

They stared at each other, an electric irritation passing through each of them. Suddenly realizing how snappy she seemed, she hesitantly offered the heir an explanation.

"He saved me…" She lowered her gaze as the memories rushed to her, wrapping her arms around herself, "That night. Tobirama came and helped me, he took me back and healed me too."

She didn't have the courage to look up at Madara, watching his shadow on the grass. Taking in this new information, he ran a hand through his hair.

' _I can't really say anything to that, can I?'_

He hadn't expected Tobirama, of all the Senjus, to be capable of such kindness towards his clan. Let alone a possible future matriarch. He regarded Chieko, well aware of his father's initial interest in the girl.

"Come, we should head back." He sounded weary and gentle, Chieko stole a look at him.

"You should go ahead Madara-sama, if we go together it'll be scandalous."

He barked a laugh, the sound sending blood rushing to Chieko's cheeks.

"I'm not joking."

"You worry too much."

He offered her his arm, and realizing she couldn't refuse it, she tediously took it. She saved him a despaired glance. "Tsuki will hate me."

He scoffed and chuckled, "She'll never get her hands on me, she shouldn't hate the competition."

It was Chieko's turn to scoff at the implication, "I was never competing with her Madara-sama."

However, Madara hadn't been talking about the girls competing for his attention at all.

"I meant that she couldn't compete with you in regards to…" He mused for a moment, "Having my attention."

Chieko turned to stare at him, alarmed. "M…Madara-sama. Don't say such ridiculous things."

He met her gaze with his lidded one and smirked, giving her a tedious wink. Chieko felt the warmth at the base of her spine return. She turned and stared straight ahead, feeling the blush on her neck and face like a weight.

Their entrance together hadn't gone unnoticed, and Misaki had hurried to their side, stumbling slightly. Chieko had pulled her arm away from Madara's and he had watched her retreat to her brother silently, moving away from him eventually to get her own dinner. Madara's eyes followed her, so that everyone could see how captivated he was at the moment. He mostly did this so that women would stop approaching him. As the night resumed, he was aware that more women would be making advances if he remained without a partner.

Most of the women that were candidates for future matriarch were dressed in ornate kimonos and were so elaborately beautiful, that some of the elders wondered _what on earth_ had gotten into Madara and what he had seen in the drab Uchiha girl.

However, their talk had been silenced once they'd seen her up close. Innocently, Chieko had wandered to the table where most of the elders sat, and took a seat by them, smiling politely as she dug into her ramen. She hadn't noticed how silent the old people had suddenly become.

"You must be Chieko, yes?" Croaked one of the older men, staring intently in the girl's direction. She turned her eyes to him and he raised his eyebrows, nodding in acceptance of her beauty.

"Yes, I am." She smiled politely, returning to her food.


	14. Genophobia

_A wonderfully steamy chapter, le mons le mons le mons._

* * *

As Hashirama and Tobirama crossed the boundary into neutral territories, their guises dropped. The other Senju following them fell into step wordlessly behind them. Tobirama however, wasn't paying too much attention, his mind reeling to the sensation on his cheeks where Chieko had touched him.

It had taken all his self-control to not violently pull himself away from her. Despite their strange amicability towards each other, she was still an Uchiha and he was still a Senju.

* * *

As dinner was taken away, the celebrating abandoned itself to a higher, wilder level. There was even more alcohol, most of the elders had retired. Chieko found herself playing with the sleeves of her kimono as she sat at the empty table, eyes wandering over the various chattering figures. Somewhere on the main table, Madara was perched on his seat listening intently to Misaki, who was laughing over some obscene joke Ibiki had cracked. The young heir gave them a crooked smile, resting his face in the palm of his hand as he leant back in his chair. He looked away to scan over the crowd, eyes landing on the lone form of Chieko at an empty table.

Abruptly, he pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'll see you guys." He didn't answer their questions as he stepped away, head down as he stealthily wove through the thick mass of people to join Chieko, much to her surprise. She looked exhausted.

"You don't seem to be enjoying this much." He pulled out a chair and sat down, knees facing Chieko, his back to the rest of the celebration. He wondered why he was bothering with making all this effort. Something in his heart seemed adamant to improve Chieko's… _situation._

She shrugged in response, "It's…alright. I don't feel too comfortable in all this socializing."

He turned to look at the crowd, making out the forms of some couples holding each other and laughing, others standing in groups, drinks in hand as they talked and enjoyed themselves and the company. His eyes wandered to Chieko. She looked so sad, although her facial expressions were always a controlled nonchalant sort, Madara couldn't miss the gloom in her eyes. It had become haunting at times, when he'd seen her zoning out dismally while working on repetitive tasks and the like.

"Have you tried talking to anyone?"

"I don't really feel any connection to anyone…" She trailed off, unsure as she glanced at him, "I don't know how to explain it."

He hummed in response, nodding. He had been familiar with this sensation. This wasn't his first time at such a celebration. "Sometimes, we end up feeling stunted." He paused, cautiously wording his next sentence, "And when we feel a connection to somebody, it's always something unacceptable or dangerous."

"Something other people just see as _wrong._ " She completed his sentence, staring off into the crowd as she spotted Tsuki talking to a handsome looking Uchiha. Her mind wandered to Tobirama and how she had felt this desperate urge to see his face under the guise. Her attention travelled back to Tsuki, who was now grinning up at the young man who'd put his arms around her. They were laughing together.

"Is it just me or do other people just seem better at this?" She turned to Madara, expecting him to have an answer. He looked at her and then at the crowd and laughed, "It seems to be the case, doesn't it."

She grumbled in agreement, eyeing the man beside her. She turned in her chair to face him, her attention completely on him.

"So why were they here?"

Madara took a moment to stare into her eyes, it was an odd kind of feeling to look so closely into somebody's eyes. "I invited them."

"I figured that much, but _why_?"

"Because…it's a secret." He finished flatly and turned his head. She stared at his profile, cheeks flushing in annoyance.

"Fine. I won't tell anyone."

"Good."

She shot him a glare and then prodded his knee, "You should get back to your table huh."

He smiled into the distance, and Chieko watched as his cheek dimpled. Her mouth parted and she scooted back in her chair. He turned his gaze back to her, "I have other ideas."

Standing up, he stared down at her with that same fixed stare, as if he were reaching into her eyes and attempting to grasp some part of her.

"I have an idea but you need to tell me if you want to…go ahead with it."

Curious, she blinked at him. He sat back down and pulled his chair closer to hers, letting her knees rest between his as he leaned forward and brushed her nose with his.

"I know you're afraid." He breathed, his eyes lingering on her lips as he pulled away slightly. Chieko sat frozen, watching him wordlessly. "I know you've had an experience that no woman should ever have. So…" He trailed off as he glanced down at her hands and took them in his, "I want to correct those wrong impressions. I want to show you something amazing."

Her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat, her heart hammering.

"Provided, you want to see it, of course." He added steadily, not letting go of her hands. His thumb absentmindedly stroked circles on the inside of her palm, causing warm, ticklish sensations to travel up her hands. She swallowed nervously, "I…I don't understand what you mean."

Some part of her brain was screaming at her to say yes, to go blindly with this man that was to be responsible for their clan, to lay her skinned and ruined honour in front of him to further destroy.

Another part of her brain was hammering away its insides, panicking and yelling for help.

"I have nothing I can give you Madara-sama." She pulled her hands away and stared furtively at him, "I lost my honour." She whispered, breaking their mutual gaze to stare down at her hands.

"No," He whispered in return, his hands taking her face gently, "You've lost nothing. You have terrible wounds that can be healed. I can heal them."

There was no desperation in his voice, only reassurance of the firm kind. When he stood then, Chieko looked up at him and after a moment of thought, stood up and followed him away from the field, away from the mass of numb individuals, away from the sick yellow light that bathed new lovers and new friends.

She had expected this walk to be awkward, but once they'd been out of sight, Madara took her hand firmly in his, threading his fingers with hers. The sensation reminded Chieko suddenly of the way she had held Tobirama's hands a few days ago, restraining him from attacking her clan.

Shaking her head free of thoughts of the Senju, she gave in to Madara's murmurs about the weather, listening to the pleasant depth of his masculine voice. In the moonlight, he looked boyish, suddenly reminding her of the times she had seen him with Misaki.

It was obvious to Chieko that she did not love this man, and she probably would never love this man.

The thought somehow did not disturb her as they climbed the steps to his room.

Stepping in, there was no illumination save for the silvery moonlight. Madara shut the door behind him and leaned against it, eyeing Chieko with lidded eyes.

"Tell me, how did they manage to get you that night?"

She stood across from him, her head suddenly held high as she felt herself put up her guards. "They drugged me with a dart."

"Well. There is nothing stilling you here." He took two steps, looming over her in seconds, one hand gently stroking her cheek as the other ran down her hair. He had wanted to do that.

 _She fell, sideways onto the leaves and dirt, a sharp sting in her neck, a numbness spreading through her body._

Chieko took a step closer, pressing her body to Madara's as her hands slid up his chest and onto his shoulders. He bent his head to look down at her.

 _The men rolled her onto her back and made quick work of her armour, tearing it off and handling the delicate parts of her body roughly._

His hands trailed down from her shoulders to her waist, one arm going around her to rest his hand on the small of her back. Her fingers slid up his neck, into his raven hair as she let out a shaky breath.

 _Their vulgar comments rang in her ears._

Chieko shivered, breaking away from Madara's gaze. He watched her still, with his lidded dark eyes, moving to brush his lips against her ear.

"Don't be afraid of me Chieko." He whispered, his soft skin brushing smoothly against her earlobe. "Tonight is for you."

Swallowing, she felt a different shiver run through her as she moved her face, letting her nose brush against his cheek, her lips brushing over his jaw and trailing to linger over his mouth. Their breaths mingled and he waited patiently. She stood up slightly to press her lips to his and gently, _very gently,_ he pressed back, moving them against hers as if they were both silken.

' _This bitch is an Uchiha!'_

She kissed him harder, her fingers tangling in his hair. His arms went under her bottom and hoisted her up easily. The kimono made it impossible for her to wrap her legs around him, so he carried her to his bed, never breaking the kiss.

 _A rough hand groped her breast, kneading it painfully._

He lowered her onto the mattress, straddling her as he broke away from her lips to rest his palms on the bed, on either side of her head. She stared up at him, the moonlight seeping through his features like liquid-silver, painting his face delicately.

He stared down at her, breathing slowly and loudly. The sounds of his breath made her want to run her hands over his handsome face and over the soft crevice of his mouth. Time seemed to swell around them into a dusky, drowsy womb of warmth.

Cheekily, her hands tugged at his haori and he let out a husky chuckle, sitting up on his knees to pull it off. He remained sitting up, watching her thoughtfully.

 _Someone decided to tear the material over her chest, exposing her undergarments._

Madara moved to remove his top, untying the sash to undo his shirt. He shrugged it off his shoulders easily, moving to place his hands on either side of Chieko's face. He could feel the warmth radiating off her face as she had taken in his sculpted upper body. He smiled, a cheeky grin that made her smile in return, a strange glitter to her eyes. She ran her hand over his chest, breathing in time with her hands. He watched her with lidded eyes, stealing a kiss from her lips and then moving to kiss her cheek and then her neck.

 _One of the men moaned in pleasure as he bit down on her nipple, causing pain to erupt in her chest, sharper than a stab._

Madara kissed the side of her neck thoroughly, discovering a spot just below her ear lobe that made her release a soft moan. Surprised at the sound, she clamped her mouth shut, and then feeling brave, leaned up to mimic what he had done. She kissed down his throat, scraping her teeth against a spot just above his collarbone that elicited a deep, abrupt moan. His hands melted into her hair as he pulled his body away and brought her mouth to his, lips claiming hers.

 _The men weren't satisfied with what they'd seen and used a kunai from her bag to cut through the material of her trousers, hooting at the sight of her warm and untouched womanhood._

Madara put his hands on her waist, just above her hips and rolled them over so that she was on top. Chieko stared down at him, feeling unusually drowsy. A heated buzz rumbled comfortably through her body. She sat up, the way he had and watched his face as she undid the sash of her kimono, letting the material slip away from her body and onto the bed, revealing her dark undergarments, rather bashfully.

 _Hungry hands had roughly rubbed at her, trying to elicit some sort of moistness to make their task easier._

Madara's breath hitched and his eyes wandered over her moonlit body, returning to meet her eyes with a dark passion in his eyes. He sat up and pushed himself against the headboard, pulling Chieko with him onto his lap.

 _She felt the hard, warm skin of someone's manhood rub against the skin of her thigh._

As she sat on his lap, she felt his arousal between her legs, the material of her underwear and his trousers keeping it away. Madara was in no hurry. He trailed his hands over her skin just as she had, and claimed her neck again, littering it with soft kisses. The moans that came spilling from her mouth made his body heat up and when she pulled his face away to press their lips together again, he rolled her so that she was under him, her head resting on his pillow, one leg pressed into his while her other leg he guided to wrap around his waist.

 _Someone rubbed his manhood purposefully along the length of her thigh, laughing dirtily._

Madara ran his large, warm hand over her thigh, rubbing circles onto the surface of her skin the way he had into her palms. She shivered again, her arms slipping over his chest to pull him closer. Breaking away for air, they stared at each other and she carefully, softly, brokenly whispered his name.

"Madara…"

It awoke something powerful in his eyes, and he ducked his head to kiss her collarbone, down to her chest, pressing kisses into the bare skin of her breasts. He littered her stomach with kisses, going over her navel and below it.

' _I think she's ready, I can't wait anymore!'_

Madara paused above her womanhood, and peered up at her. She moved her hands from his, to brush his hair off his face.

"Are you sure you want to go ahead?" His voice was soft, like a caress to her ears.

"Yes." She breathed, her voice more air than sound.

Madara moved back up, one hand at the waistband of his trousers as he tugged them down and off, kicking them off the bed with a chuckle. Chieko smiled in response, running a finger down his cheek. He paused to watch her, losing himself in the silver gloom of her eyes that seemed so charged with passion, he wanted to revel in it.

 _The awkward, rough thrusting made her whole body shift back and forth, the dark swimming around her, the moonlight not in sight anymore._

"This may hurt." He whispered, pushing her thighs apart gently with his hands. As he positioned himself, he placed a hand on the headboard, the other resting on her hip as he slowly, carefully entered her.

He let out a moan, whispering something Chieko couldn't quite understand, overwhelmed by the sensation that flooded her entire body beginning from her nether regions, and travelling up her belly to her chest. Her hands went to his stomach, clenching the skin as he moved himself, a rhythm emerging in time with the sensations in her body.

He was whispering her name into the air, each time a moan tumbled from her lips. Both Uchiha held on to each other, listening, feeling, consuming as much of the others presence as they could.

There was a sudden tightening in her body, a choked sort of whimper, not from pain but from the overwhelming white-washing pleasure that racked her mind and body. Madara leaned into her, pressing their bodies close together, as they joined each other in a state of ecstasy, and for Chieko, a state of healing.

The celebrations outside ended, yellow lanterns abandoned to bob silently in the wind.


	15. Nyctophobia

Hello readers! I have returned after a long hiatus! I apologize for the long break that this story has seen.

Remember that reviews are appreciated, it always helps to have a critical eye going over the story!

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

An orange-pink dawn descended on the remnants of the festival. Men and women stole away quickly as the shadows crept away, grass glittering in the dew of the morning. The mess of tables and glasses had long been cleared away by volunteering members of the clan.

Madara stretched, tucking one arm under his pillow and wondering why he wasn't particularly warm. The pillow next to him lay abandoned. Chieko had left, without managing to stir him.

He stared at the empty spot in irritation, a tug in his chest telling him what he knew in his mind already. It took a considerable amount of self-control to not growl as he sat up, floor creaking under his weight as he stood up, sheets pooling at his feet. In the light of the rising Sun, the warm material was lit scarlet.

Chieko had escaped from Madara's bed with relative ease, he slept like the dead. Having showered and returned to her room, she chewed her lip as she eyed her reflection in the square mirror of her, mumbling to herself as she eyed the maroon mark just beneath her jawline.

She picked up the maroon high-neck undervest she had taken from her mother, it was a dying custom for kunoichi of the clan to wear these. With the maroon mark hidden safely beneath the collar, Chieko felt comfortable and wondered whether that was partly the reason why her ancestors had preferred these beneath their armour.

'Tsuki will absolutely despise my very existence.'

It wasn't the thought of her friend being upset that irked her surprisingly, if Chieko was honest with herself, she'd escaped before the heir could wake up. Mostly because she did not want to go through the pain of disentangling herself from him while he was awake and aware of her presence.  
She had grown up without entertaining the idea of being the wife or mistress of some powerful member of the clan. She'd never thought about her future. Shaking her head, she discarded the idea from her mind.

'One night means nothing, nothing at all.'

Somewhere in the barrenness of her heart she knew she would not take up such a position, for she felt nothing towards him. As she recalled the feeling of his hands on her skin, she felt an alien shiver, not entirely uncomfortable but not entirely welcome.

"Chiiiiiiiiiiiii-kun!" Tsukis shrill voice rang through the room as the door slammed open. Chieko had felt her presence as she had entered the hallway to their room.

Feigning surprise and mild joy, Chieko crinkled her eyes at her friend in the mirror and greeted her warmly, "Aha Tsuki! How was last night? Did you enjoy yourself?"

The girl in turn, froze and eyed Chieko suspiciously. She answered her with an observation Chieko wished she hadn't made.

"You slept with someone. You've got that after-sex glow."

Chieko blinked, sighing and shaking her head as she resumed combing through her hair. "I surrender. Although, it wasn't a big deal."

"Who was it though?"

"Kenji."

Chieko lied smoothly, her expression never changing.

In the mirror, she saw Tsuki blanch momentarily as her face transitioned to a disappointed expression.

"You could do so much better than that! Urgh, well...Was it any good?"

Feeling somewhat guilty for keeping the truth from her friend, Chieko let some of the truth trickle in.

"Absolutely mind-blowing."

Her cheeks didn't warm at the memory, but a warmth pooled between her legs that irritated her. She had more important tasks to render her attention to. Tsuki snickered as she began to recount her night and her 'adventurous partner'. Chieko began to zone out, nodding and feigning attention as she put half her hair into a bun, leaving the rest to fall down her back. She was aware that Tsuki paid no attention to whether she was actually listening. Soon the girl was searching through her trunk for extra clothes as she prepared herself for a visit to the baths.

Seeing this as a moment of escape, Chieko stepped away from the mirror and around her friend, heading straight for the door, "I'll see you later Tsuki-chan."

* * *

"Get me some tea, no milk." The maid scurried away as the order was dictated slowly and viciously at her, leaving her wondering if she had upset Madara in some way.

Madara stood at the door to the porch, staring intently out at the tree he remembered watching his mother sit under.

"You're going to set it on fire nii-san."

Izuna had stepped soundlessly behind his brother and peered from beside his shoulder at his brother's irritated face.  
He grunted in response and stepped out to sit on the cherry-wood steps worn out by years of being the Uchiha brothers' customary breakfast spot.

Izuna stood in the doorway, leaning against the side as he amusedly stared at his older brother, "She left before the sun rose."

"You saw her?" Madaras voice was slightly muffled as he lit his pipe, parting his lips to allow a thick cloud of smoke to trickle from his lips.

"Of course, I wouldn't have heard her even if I was trying to listen for a woman in the house."  
Madara only grunted in response, Izuna stepped out to allow the maid to set a cup of milkless tea beside his brother.

What Izuna did not disclose to his brother was that he had recruited her for a task that Madara would never have let her do. He wasn't using her to her full potential as a kunoichi.

They remained silent for the next hour, Izuna taking in the grey expanse of sky and mountains around them. Cold, yellow light speckled the ground and the ancient tree, creating only an illusion of warmth.

* * *

Chieko strapped on her arm plates and sandals, adjusting her gloves as she stepped out of the armory, having acquired two new blades. They were as long as her forearms, being short meant they were easy to move around with and good for close range combat.

'Kami, it's chilly here.'

Gripping the two blades in one hand, she paused as a group of shinobi passed, chattering loudly. She followed them with her piercing-grey gaze, realizing a few seconds later that she could feel a pair of eyes on her directly across the path. She turned her head to meet the gaze of a dark-eyed kunoichi and froze. She was startled, not just by the disheveled looking woman in front of her, but by the white glowing ring around both her irises.

The woman in turn raised an eyebrow, her lips blue and her skin grey, as if it was sun-starved.

Chieko nearly flinched, 'She looks like a breathing corpse.'

Her wrists were shackled in front of her, dark wild hair strewn over her arms like fur. She was wolfish and her gaze was disconcerting. Chieko felt herself vanish into her surroundings, as if the woman was seeing through her.

A familiar voice called out from behind her.

"Tsukinowa, Madara is looking for you."

Someone brushed past Chieko, and she quickly realized that only her brother would address the heir so informally.

The woman did not move to acknowledge Misaki even as he grabbed her arm and tugged her away. Her gaze remained frighteningly steady and fixed on the female Uchiha who could only stare back in silence. Her brother hadn't noted her, possibly because of the new attire. Chieko had never worn anything maroon before.

She suddenly felt very conscious of her appearance, realizing that the wild woman despite her grimy hair and paled skin, was fiercely beautiful. She blinked into the distance, shaking her head as curiosity climbed into the lobes of her brain like creeping spiders.

'I need to focus.' She growled internally to herself, whisking her mind free of the cobwebs her curiosity was spinning.

She had an important task to perform. Admonishing her lack of focus and taking in a deep breath, she carried on to the very eastern end of their compound, towards the dreaded Chamber.

The Chamber was, outwardly, a simple stone tower in the compound. Its gaping dark entrance lead to a spiral staircase, part of which went up to the forbidden floors and was left unlit, while the steps winding down into the underground were illuminated by rust crusted lanterns. Chieko paused at the entrance for a moment, stepping into the darkness with hardened resolve.

'I'm not a little girl anymore.'

She proceeded, counting the steps she took, one hand on the cold stone as she went lower into the cold pits of her clans home-built hell. There had been many stories she'd heard about the Chambers, across the Uchiha's compounds. Some said they were where they kept high-priority prisoners, while others said it was where highly skilled shinobi used secret techniques on prisoners to interrogate and torture them.

This would be her first time descending down these steps.

'Could this get any creepier?' She questioned, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder every few steps.

Her heart hammered in her chest and a bubble of air seemed to be caught in her throat. She stopped for a moment to tuck the two blades into her belt. Her hands felt clammy beneath the tough material of her gloves.

There was an eerie silence, as if the air had held its own breath.

'What the hell. How did they dig so deep into the rock?'

The Chamber was built into another side of the mountain, and she was sure she was descending right into the belly of one of the massive rock formations that peaked above the compound.

Some one hundred steps later, she stepped into a damp cavern that was illuminated by brightly burning torches. The cavern was cave-like, the walls uneven. The only sign of human presence was the torches and the occasional sound of whispering voices.

Chieko cleared her throat.

'Why would Izuna-sama want me to run an errand in here?' The more deductive part of her brain suggested that this errand was not what she would call an errand.

She continued to walk down the cavern, noticing that the uneven rock surrounding her seemed to smooth out, eventually opening into a long hallway. Here, the rock glistened distinctly like marble. She felt like she was in an overly-pomp illusion and proceeded cautiously, unsure of where exactly she was meant to go.

The air was thick and scentless for the most part, but when she took a few more steps into the hallway, she caught whiff of a familiar burning stench, like skin melting into an ashen pile of damp black. She was seized by a sudden nausea, and wretched. Her hand shot to her mouth, relieved that it was only dry gagging.

She suppressed the nightmarish memory of her burning attackers in the night and thought only of the soft, deep voice telling her she was okay.

Something made her hands quiver as she continued, and she instinctively squared her shoulders.

What she hadn't expected was the doorway that appeared to the left almost as if it had materialized out of the air. She had to take a few steps back to peer into it.

'….Maybe this one?'

"Chieko. Come this way."

A gruff, unfamiliar voice spoke out of the dim room and Chieko nearly jumped, goose-bumps rising on her skin. She obeyed, one hand resting on the hilt of the blade. She was greeted by an elderly Uchiha with greying hair at his temples.

"We have heard great things about your ability with your sharingan, Chieko."

Chieko resisted the urge to glance around the room, wondering who this 'we' comprised of.

'We seem to be alone here old man.'

The man crinkled his eyes at her. They were dark and beady and it made her fidgety. She could hear the distinct drip-drip of water.

"I would like you to show me just how much you can do." He gestured then to the right and Chieko turned her head, her feet rooted in place. The shock that tore through her body at that moment was painful, she felt her eyes change purely from the horror. She could feel her chakra directing itself to her eyes as her lips parted. She wanted to scream, shrilly.

Before her, suspended from chains, was the mangled and broken body of a white haired man.

There was no doubt in her mind, and if there was it was only a weak glimmer.

As her eyes took in the man's figure, he lifted his bleeding head to reveal rose irises and distinct facial markings.

"Tobirama?"

The name escaped her lips before she could stop herself, her voice quivering violently.

The man before her groaned, a familiar deep voice responding. "Fuck you, Uchiha."

Behind Chieko, the Uchiha elder let out a husky laugh that was joined by others. It made her skin crawl and she was too horrified to turn to look for the others that she hadn't been able to sense.

"Are you a Senju sympathizer then Chieko Uchiha?"

She steadied her breathing, but her heart beat on in horror. She responded firmly, "No."

' _Liar.'_

"Tell me then Chieko, we need to get some information out of him. What should we do?"

Unsure of what was happening, Chieko panicked.

"I…I….," Her stammering was not going to help. She gulped. "What sort of information do you require?"

Behind her, the elder's lips thinned into a satisfied smirk.

"Izuna-sama has shown me your work on Shinobi cognition. I understand that you have an intrinsic understanding of the best ways to retrieve information. Show me what you can do."

' _Fuck.'_

Almost robotically, Chieko stepped closer to the body.

Her sharingan burned in her skull, singing her skin as she began expending her skills onto the injured and broken man in front of her.


	16. Contreltophobia

'Please don't look up.'

Almost as if he heard her internal plea, Tobirama's rose irises looked up at her defiantly.

"Sharingan." She whispered.

The throb in her skull was nothing compared to the incoming agony in her ears.

The elder's lips compressed into a thin line, noting the change in the Senju's eyes, they reflected the girl's sharingan perfectly and his shoulders tensed as if he had been taken into the genjutsu instantly.

It was impressive, for he had doubted that a female would have such grasp of her eyes.

"Izuna-sama, it worked."

It had taken a long time to conjure this ancient, forbidden jutsu. They had attempted it on several test subjects before attempting it on a figure of importance. Chieko was chosen because she was most connected to this person.

Izuna, who had been present for some time before Chieko arrived, stepped out of the shadows to nod in acknowledgment.

"I will let Madara-niisama know, but we must ensure that this jutsu follows through all the way."

Chieko's attention was not rooted to the real world. All her attention was lodged between the Senju and herself. Chieko had sensed that something wasn't quite right with the man in front of her. She suspected at first that it was an elaborate genjutsu of some sort.

However, miles away, Tobirama had stiffened and pressed a hand to his eyes.

"Hashirama-"

His older brother had barely responded, when Tobirama stumbled against the table beside him and slumped into an unconscious form at its feet.

* * *

The two were shrowded in darkness, and then the man's form was lit by a bright red, all colours becoming inverted and fluctuating violently between blue, green and red, mimicking the chakra signatures that would be observable in the real world.

'Impossible! Is that…chakra?' Chieko took slow steps towards the bound man, recognizing Tobirama's signature as the unconscious form suddenly became animated and struggled against his invisible restraints. Chieko froze in confusion as a familiar voice growled out in confusion,

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Her eyes widened only a fraction, 'Some sort of illusion maybe…'

Tilting her head, she felt her eyes focus on the Senju. "Are you real?"

Snapping his gaze to her, Tobirama realized who stood before him.

"I could ask you the same question Uchiha. What is this? How are you here?" He hissed viciously at her.

Tobirama could feel his heart hammering away inside his chest. He couldn't discern whether any of this was real or whether it was a delusion. He attempted to break the genjutsu, but found that any attempt frayed his resistance to the maddening chakra pressure. He kept his eyes on the girl, noticing that the tomoes in her eyes had changed.

' _Is that the mangekyo?'_ Despite his familiarity with the female, he shuddered.

Realizing that the fear in his eyes was too real, Chieko took a few steps away and frowned. The pattern within her eyes began to swirl as she set to work, unsure of whether this Tobirama Senju was real or part of some test.

'There's no way he could be real. This has to be some sort of test.'

Chieko decided she would go easy, retrieve whatever information she could get her hands on, just in case this man was the _real_ Tobirama Senju. She felt herself lose control over the genjutsu she cast onto him, nightmare-ish memories becoming alive once again.

* * *

Back within the Senju compound, a deep, pained scream escaped the unconscious Tobirama. It took Hashirama and two others to restrain the man. They couldn't understand what was wrong with him until the medic forced one of his eyelids open and the room silenced in fear.

There, in place of his rose-hued eyes, was the swirling tomoe and scarlet of the sharingan.

* * *

As her eyes resumed their pale grey, there was cold light in them that the elder noticed hadn't been there when she'd arrived. She never tore her eyes away from the body, now eerily still. She was panting slightly, evidence that the Senju had resisted her. She had managed to stop him from breaking the jutsu.

The elder was impressed.

"Chieko," Snapping to the present, she stepped away and turned to the elder with an emotionless expression, an eyebrow raised in mild curiosity.

"You understand that what we do down here is a secret, yes?"

She nodded.

"Excellent. You have passed our test," He gestured with his head to the body and Chieko did not move to follow his gaze.

"We suspected your familiarity with this Senju would make you hesitate to follow orders. You held your ground and loyalty."

Chieko never turned her head to look at the body.

"Izuna-sama recommended you and asked me to test you. Considering your skill, we will recruit you for the interrogation squad. Welcome."

Chieko bowed but said nothing. Finding her silence amusing, the elder barked a laugh. "My name is Ken, you may call me taichou. You have no need to familiarize yourself with the others. When we need you, you will be summoned. You will not speak of this test to anyone outside of these walls. Understood?"

She nodded.

"Now, you are free to leave."

With that, he was gone in a gust of black feathers. Noticing that she appeared to be alone, she turned with tear-filled eyes to the body that lay suspended from the ceiling, only to find in its place an unfamiliar and scarred body with a gaping mouth and bruised, purple eye sockets. Horrified, she let out a strangled whimper.

"What the fuck?" She whispered. The swollen eyelids parted to reveal startlingly grey eyes much like her own.

What frightened her was not the state of the body, but the script written over it. She stepped closer, reading the name 'Tobirama' written many times after several indecipherable words. Her throat constricted.

The corpse made an odd twitching movement and she stumbled back, her eyes wide in horror. The body seemed to twitch violently one last time before turning limp. Bile rose in her throat, cold tears fell onto her cheeks.

'What is this?'

Summoning all her courage, she went closer to the body and read over the words again and again.

Somewhere in her mind, they clicked. She had seen this before, but she couldn't recall where.

With increasing dread and certainty, she began to suspect that the Tobirama within her genjutsu was real and the one she had seen restrained here in these chains had been the illusion.

She felt as if she were drowning.

Chieko bounced onto her heels and ran blindly to the stairs, gasping for breath.

'But that doesn't make any _sense_!'

She hadn't counted the steps, but when her body collapsed she was nowhere near the entrance. Gasping for breath and comfort, she fumbled blindly on the narrow steps, her knees scraping cold stones as she let out a strangled wail in an attempt to suppress the sobs that wrecked her body.

Tobirama had stared at her wide-eyed and horrified as she had pulled him under, burning his body with dark flames as she sought out useful intel from his mind. In truth, Chieko had lost control over the pain-inflicting part of the jutsu. She didn't have the emotional stability to stop herself from re-enacting the night again and again within her mind.

He was too distracted by the pain and the shock to fight her as she swept through his thoughts, and she had dictated whatever she deemed useful to the elder, purposefully leaving out all the vital things that she felt would compromise her friend.

' _Friend.'_ She mocked herself, 'What sort of friend am I?'

In her mind's eye, all she could see was Tobirama, the state she had put him in and then the horrifying corpse in the cavern. Her mind flashed a merged image of Tobirama and black flames, burning bodies and his struggle against her. When she executed the genjutsu, he fought the pain but never screamed.

She felt disgusted. Between friendship and her clan, she had chosen her clan.

"I chose the relationship I was born into, doomed into belonging with. Not the one I formed by myself, the one that grew from me."

Clenching her fists, she cracked her forehead against the cold stone, feeling her skin split and a trickle of warm blood make its way down to the tip of her nose.

' _It's okay… Chieko.'_

His voice echoed in her mind, and she sobbed, standing up shakily as her hands gripped the walls on either side. She could vividly remember the way he had held her that night, the way he saved her.

Horrified at what she had done in return, she clambered blindly and shakily up the steps, emerging into darkness. It was just past sundown, and the number of people around had also dwindled.

Shaking with a surge of what Chieko could only rationally deduce as madness, she felt the burning desire to leave, to abandon her clan.

'I need to go.'

The thought threw her into a manic state, and before she could rethink her decision, she was in her room, throwing all her clothing out of the small trunk to dig out a black cloak. She felt almost blinded by rage as she stared at the clan's _Uchiwa_ embroidered neatly onto the material.

'This is….This is Madara's doing. _He_ made me do this. To someone important to me. _He knew._ '

She let out a frustrated scream as she sank to her knees, her hands tangled wildly in her clothes as she tore the _uchiwa_ off the material. She left nothing of the cloak except black strips and the clan symbol lay torn into indiscernible pieces at her knees. Only when she stared at the unrecognizable remnants, did she calm down.


	17. Arsonphobia

**Song: Cut me deep by Lasko & Kestler**

 **Hey everyone! So this chapter is written with the all the bold text being the moments within the genjutsu! I'm surprised at the responses I got after updating after aaaaaages! I'm so glad to see everyone still following this story! Much love!**

* * *

 _...Earlier that day..._

Upon returning from the Uchiha compound, Tobirama had relented to remaining seated at his desk, puffing gently on the pale, wooden pipe in his hand as he leafed through information received from the Sarutobi.

'How can one clan have so many rebellions?' He raised his eyebrows, eyes lidded as his mouth curved into a petulant scowl.

The Sarutobi had several groups of ninja go rogue over the last five years, some either wanting to side with the Uchiha, some attempting to cause a larger rift between them and the Senju, and some trying to create ties with other minor clans in an attempt to oust the two most powerful shinobi clans.

'This is….' He turned his head to gaze out the open window, his face momentarily illuminated by the moon, 'Boring.' He sighed and closed his eyes, wriggling his eyebrows in an attempt to calm the tense muscles in his forehead.

He huffed and pushed himself onto his feet, pipe in mouth as he tapped it with his right hand absentmindedly. His bare feet felt cold against the wood as he sat down on the tatami mat in his room. He hummed to himself, legs crossed beneath him, as he gazed out the window and at the full moon.

More often than not, he found his mind wandering to Chieko. Now that he knew more about her, who her family was, her familiarity with _Madara_ \- Tobirama twitched at the thought, the corners of his mouth curling pensively- He realized how much of a stranger she truly was to him. He felt he knew her better before he had seen her swathed by clan members and her watchful brother.

'Still as much a witch as ever.' He smiled pleasantly, the shape of his lips morphing pleasantly into the alien expression.

That was how Hashirama found him.

"OTOUTOU!"

Mentally veering his attention to his brother, he calmly turned his head and gave his brother the stink-eye.

"You don't have to yell nii-sama." He released a thin cloud of smoke occluding his brother's face. Hashirama waved the smoke away as he stood at the doorway, his voice assuming a more serious tone.

"I was thinking about today. Madara really honoured the idea of a truce…" He trailed off, the uncertainty in his voice catching Tobirama's attention, "…but something was really off about him. He seemed like he was feigning it."

Tobirama raised an eyebrow, his voice a calm buzz in the silence of his room, "Nii-sama, I tend to avoid trusting the Uchiha." His mind wandered back to Chieko, as did Hashirama's. The brothers were well aware of the odd familiarity Tobirama held with her. He wasn't done speaking and interrupted the silence as he put out his pipe, "It was a big risk going there in the first place. Perhaps….Madara was as nervous as we felt."

He never would imagine taking the man's side. 'I still don't trust him.' He corrected himself, not voicing this as he kept his steady gaze on his withering brother.

"Tobi, I feel as though something terrible is about to happen."

"You probably absorbed all that negativity those Uchiha give off."

The curse of hatred, as Tobirama liked to call it in his private thoughts. He remembered the madness in Chieko's eyes when she'd been angry with him. When she'd accused him of enjoying her misfortune. It still irked him.

Hashirama's frown only deepened, resigning to his thoughts. "Perhaps."

Tobirama stood up again, seeing no point in lying down to rest. The sun would rise soon. His brother had, uncharacteristically, disappeared in a flicker. Tobirama frowned.

The morning broke out over their compound in golden rays through the foliage. The Senju structures bordered the very edges of Hyuuga territory, the other clan trapped between the Uchiha and the Senju as mediators.

Tobirama had spent the morning watching the sunrise idly, aware that he could be doing something else with his time. He groaned as he rolled his shoulders, dropping from his spot atop a tree to fall into step with some children that were carrying ropes and other items of use. They grinned up at him, one of them having an adorable gap between his front teeth. Tobirama gave him a gentle smile, hands behind his back as he looked on.

However, despite his pleasant appearance, he felt wary. There was a cord of exhaustion wrapping itself, entwining rather, up his spine.

'I really don't want to be awake right now.' He rubbed his eyes for a split second, the movement so quick that nobody really noticed.

Somewhere a child was yelling gleefully at another, "BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!"

The pair scuttled passed his legs, barely measuring up to his waist. He blinked thoughtfully at them when he felt the first painful prick in his eyes. Instead of reacting with a yelp, he winced. The light of the morning began to hurt his eyes, and so he shielded them and began to stride towards his brother. He could sense Hashirama nearby, along with Toka and some Uzumaki he didn't recognize.

As he passed through a crowd of people, all pacing back and forth carrying bags of rice and other rations, he was drowned in the noise. A woman smiled at him, her lips moving.

Tobirama couldn't hear her. All he could make out was the distinct drip-drip, as if water was leaking from a faucet.

'What in the world?' He frowned, feeling the muscles on his face move slowly as if they'd been stiff. 'What is this? Am I having a stroke?!'

Panicking he felt himself walking faster, the prickling in his eyes dying down as he hastily located his brother, spotting his dark hair in a group of blondes and red-heads.

They were standing outside a small 'office' of sorts and as the younger Senju passed, he took his brother by the elbow and pulled him in, sliding the door shut violently.

"Otoutou…" Hashirama trailed off, confused, "Are you okay?"

Tobirama wasted no time, his expression the same, never-changing stoic as he internally panicked.

"Something is happening to my body."

"Eh? Elaborate."

That was when he felt a painful throb in his chest, as if his heart was squirming against his ribcage. He took a wary step to lean on the table, but as his arm went towards it his vision blurred and then paled to a bright white.

"Hashir-" He never finished, greeted by a dismal, screaming darkness and the sound of dripping water echoing in the distance.

Eventually the empty darkness faded to a black.

 **He felt himself wake in a never-ending realm of black.**

 **He could hear a feminine voice, nightmare-ish, soft and fearful. He sat up on his knees, his ears drowning in the sound of someone…crying.**

" **What's going on?"**

 **Tobirama was quick to realize he was in some sort of genjutsu, one linked to the sharingan he discerned without doubt. He would've hissed in anger, but a whisper by his ear made him freeze up. He felt like death.**

' _Kami, please let this stop. Please. Please. Please.'_ **The voice begged and he felt someone wrap themselves around his shoulders. The sensation left his body as quickly as it had come.**

" **What is the meaning of this?!" He growled, trying to summon his chakra. He felt it flicker chaotically within him.**

' _I'll burn all of you. Every single one of you.'_

 **At this he seized up, he felt an odd pressure on his body as if it were being crushed. Then came the painful lurching, as if someone had taken him and rattled him like a rag doll.**

 **His arms were bound above his head and he was hoisted into the air as if he were hanging. Before him, he beheld the form of a figure, outlined only by white lines, an inverted mangekyo staring intensely at him. From the figure came a feminine voice that resembled the quivering whispers that had become muted.**

" **Are you real?" Curious, she tilted her head. He could sense a range of emotions coming from her: fear, anxiety, curiosity, tenderness. They invaded his mind, spindly hands spinning complex emotions into his thoughts that weren't his. He recognized which Uchiha stood before him when he heard his own voice whispering softly in the background.**

' _ **It's okay Chieko. It's okay. You're okay.'**_

" **I could ask you the same question Uchiha. What is this? How are you here?" He hissed, his heart threatening to explode in his chest.**

 **The tomoes in her eyes began to swirl. His eyes widened when he felt a warmth over his skin. It became warmer and warmer until it began to scald his skin. He clenched his jaw, writhing against the force that bound him, refusing to look away from Chieko's inverted form.**

" **Wh…what…you" He choked out inaudibly. He made the mistake of turning his gaze downwards to his body, horrified to find his skin bubbling and**

 **churning.**

* * *

Hashirama rushed to catch Tobirama around his waist as he fell, sweat breaking out on the younger one's face. His eyes twitched beneath his eyelids violently and he squirmed.

"Toka! Mizuki!"

The others, lingering outside, suddenly entered. Their eyes were wide, horror etching through their features as Tobirama began to arch his back, clenching his jaw so tightly his teeth began to grate loudly.

"Get something between his teeth!"

Someone was placing a piece of thick leather between his teeth as Hashirama held down his shoulders.

Hashirama took authority quickly. "Close the door. Toka, summon Hoshi and Tenzo. No one beyond this room should know what is happening here."

Toka disappeared in a flicker. Hashirama held down Tobirama's shoulders, the blonde Mizuki holding down the man's ankles when he released a muffled scream through clenched teeth, his body squirming from an unknown pain. Uzumaki Mizuki felt his chest constrict, his arms tensing from trying to restrain the Senju. He had greatly underestimated the man's strength even in such a state. Not knowing how else to prevent his legs from thrashing around, he pinned down his ankles as he climbed onto his shins and sat down on his lower legs.

He shared a concerned look with Hashirama, his bright blue eyes searching the older brother's face for the emotions he could feel radiating off of him.

"I can feel an alien chakra in him." He spoke, his boyish voice low and wary. Hashirama broke his gaze from the young Uzumaki as Tobirama nearly sat up. Clenching his muscles, Hashirama forced him down, hearing his otoutou's painful, strangled groans. He stilled for a moment and Hashirama felt a whimper rise and die in his throat as he forcefully dismissed the idea of losing his beloved younger brother.

Mizuki was staring intently at the Senju, using his sensing skills to track the various chakra he could sense within him. The weakest was Tobirama's and excluding his own and Hashirama's, there was a fiery, spiking chakra that felt like a cocktail of people. It stank though, of _Uchiha._

"Hashirama-sama!" He choked out, wide eyes meeting Hashirama's brown orbs. "H-His eyes. Check his eyes!"

Toka had reappeared with the medics beside her just as Hashirama pried one of Tobirama's eyelids open.

There, beheld in his irises, was the swirling scarlet of the sharingan, tomoes bouncing almost mockingly.

Mizuki felt lightheaded. The Uzumaki healers too were frozen into shock. Anger flooded Hashirama's body, transforming to white rage that began to glow around him. Toka offered to hold down his shoulders as Hashirama began barking orders to the medics. They would pull him out of this genjutsu, alive.

' _I need you, otoutou.'_


	18. Pistanthrophobia

_Helllloooooo readers! In this chapter, I have introduced another OC from my story 'Scarlet Eyes'. I feel like her relationship/influence on Chieko could be interesting! Reviews are appreciated, as I gain a lot from reading your feedback!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

When Tsuki returned to her shared bedroom, she was surprised to find a very rumpled looking Chieko curled up on her bed. The woman frowned.

"Ne, Chieko," The younger Uchiha never went to bed without her nightly routine of hair-combing and a fresh change of clothes. The sleeves of her maroon polo-neck were tugged over her fists, curled up into her chest, almost hugging her knees. There was a single, crusted blood stain from her right eye staining her bedsheet.

"Chieko." Tsuki nudged her gently, surprised to find that the girl's face was unusually warm. Chieko groaned, eyes fluttering open. She stared dazedly at Tsuki for a minute, both girls were silent.

"What is it Tsuki-chan?" Her voice cracked with exhaustion. The frown returned to Tsuki's face, "Your eye was bleeding. You're feverish. Should I call a medic?"

Chieko took in a loud, deep inhale and sat up, stretching her arms over her head. "No."

Tsuki took a step back as Chieko stood up from her bed, gliding soundlessly to the mirror, "Tsuki-chan, will you help me with something?"

Tsuki curiously tilted her head, "Of course, what is it?"

Chieko shook her hair from its messy bun, combing it with her fingers. It brushed past her hip now and Chieko deemed it an inconvenience.

* * *

"Madara-niisama." Izuna's voice floated to Madara's desk and he glanced up, eyebrows raised in curiosity at the honorific. Izuna meant business. "The jutsu worked. Ken-senpai and another one of his underlings managed to execute it perfectly on a Senju." Izuna prided himself on never lying to his older brother, instead he chided himself for giving him an incomplete truth- a harmless, incomplete truth.

Madara stared at his younger brother, the pregnant pause brimming with something he couldn't quiet identify. When he spoke again, his voice seemed to rumble through the room, the slightest bit of irritation clear. "You witnessed its success yourself?" Madara did not trust the elders.

"Yes, niisama."

* * *

Chieko left her room, her appearance less-rumpled. She had swapped her turtle-neck for a black one she'd found in her trunk, no clan symbols visible on anything she was wearing. Her dark, silken hair dipped past her ears, tickling her shoulders as she walked. The haircut had made a sharp difference to her features. Her eyes were now the most dominant feature of her face- the unusual, steely grey set below a relatively small forehead. She couldn't seem to pull her mouth into any real expression, her lips forming an unrevealing line, neither scowl nor smirk. Her delicate nose remained the daintiest part of her face. The thick eyelashes brimming her eyes made her appear as though she'd outlined them on purpose. Two dark lines were etched into her skin, heavy bags revealing her exhaustion.

As she passed a group of familiar Uchiha by the staircase, she nervously fisted the hair at the nape of her neck, fluffing it slightly as she descended, giving her a way to duck her face as she passed. The resolve glinting in her eyes was temporarily concealed behind a façade of petulance and disinterest. She tread so lightly that her sandals barely made a sound on the wood, and on the concrete even less so.

'The Uchiha way.' She mocked. She crossed her arms over her chest, momentarily cursing herself for not wearing her thick haori as a cold gust of wind blew through the compound. Then she remembered that it had the clan insignia on it, and she was less angry with herself for not wearing it.

'What will I say to him?' She pondered, suppressing the mild-anxiety that rose in her throat. She paused as people brushed past her, 'Is it even a smart idea to go to him right now?' Frowning, she shoved her hands in the pockets of her trousers, narrowing her eyes as she continued her slow walk, a plan formulating in her mind.

"Misaki-nii." She knocked on his door, irritated to hear only silence in response. She couldn't sense him on the other side of the door though, so she assumed he wasn't in. Growling, she slammed the wood with her fist, only to have it forced open. She peered into her brother's room, curious to find a stack of what she identified as Jutsu scrolls on his desk. Entering the room, she swept over it and let the door drop shut behind her quietly. She fingered through the scrolls, reading only the labels.

'These are all forbidden jutsu of the Tsukinowa clan.' She frowned, prying through the stack. 'How did he get these?' She sensed the sudden presence of Izuna above her and glanced up. He had probably returned to his room. Concealing her own chakra, she turned to glance through the scrolls in his shelf, stepping on a discarded pair of underwear she didn't see. 'Ew niisan.'

Her eyes scanned through the labels, a plan slowly clicking into place.

* * *

"Misaki." The Uchiha glanced up at Madara, who had summoned him to his office to go over transportation tactics.

"Have you seen your sister?" Madara didn't look up from the map as he asked, pushing a piece to the left to symbolize the Senju territory on the outskirts of Hyuuga lands. Misaki's eyes narrowed a fraction in interest, "I haven't seen her."

He said no more for a moment, Madara's expression never changing, "She seemed ill when I saw her last." He supplied. A lie. Madara picked it up immediately.

He frowned.

* * *

Chieko had given up her plans to confront Madara, instead returning to her chambers with a few scrolls on the Sharingan.

A knock on her door some hours later threw her into a state of panic, and she hid the scrolls beneath her pillow. 'Not the best place to hide these…' she chided herself. Misaki, without warning, slid the door open when he heard the rustle of sheets.

Chieko met his gaze with her own surprised one. Misaki first stared at the way she sat. Then his eyes went to the fact that she was still wearing her sandals _on the bed._ And then, his eyes travelled to the strands of hair framing her face. His eyes widened some more. He strode into the room aggressively.

"You _cut_ your _hair?!_ "

She blinked, confused at his outburst.

" _Why_ would you do that?!"

"…."

A vein twitched on Misaki's forehead, "Kami-sama, Madara was right. You _are_ ill."

"What are you blubbering on about?" The steel in her voice, and the irritation caused Misaki to frown some more. He walked up his sister and flicked her forehead. Her hands went to it as her cheeks reddened.

"Ouch."

Crossing his arms victoriously, he leaned down to peer at her, too close to her face. "Are you okay niichan?"

He rarely addressed her as such and Chieko flushed at the genuineness in his voice. She was always flustered when her older brother showed his care for her, she had spent most of her childhood wanting him to dote over her, and he did rarely. "I'm fine." She mumbled in response.

"I don't believe that." He sat down, crossing his legs beneath him and turning his head to observe her with scrutinizing eyes.

"I'm…just not having a good week." Her lower lip quivered as she contained her emotion. Misaki noticed, but chose to ignore it. "Madara was asking about you today." He said quietly, warranting some sort of reaction. Chieko kept her stoic expression, eyes unchanging. That in itself was a reaction.

"Did something happen between the two of you?"

At that, the blood rushed to her cheeks again, "Wh…what are you asking?" She frowned in annoyance, Misaki laughing, his voice covering the sound of the door sliding open as Tsuki stepped into the room, freezing when her eyes landed on the siblings.

"Misaki-senpai." She bowed respectfully. Misaki's eyes crinkled at her as he stood up, tapping two of his fingers against Chieko's forehead. "Keep yourself out of trouble for a little while and get something for the fever." There was a brotherly threat in his voice and Chieko wondered what he'd do if she _didn't._

Tsuki kept her head low as Misaki passed, sliding the door shut gently behind him. When she lifted her head, Chieko was staring curiously at her.

"Why'd you lower your head like that?"

Tsuki blanched for a moment, "Out of respect, of course."

Something in the younger girl's eyes changed. She abruptly stood up, hiding the scroll she was reading in her sleeve. She managed to hide it entirely from Tsuki, who didn't notice it at all as she began to wash her face in the basin.

"I have to see a medic. I'll be back."

Tsuki smiled at her through the mirror, patting her face with a towel.

Chieko left the little building again, returning to the small, dimly lit library that was attached to the main offices. She had improved greatly in terms of speed, and only someone with the sharingan activated would have seen her flicker into the building. Perched on the floor between the two last shelves, a lantern just above her head, she pulled the scroll open and continued to read.

She felt impatient, her knees bouncing restlessly.

'I have to do this right. Even….even if it means death.'

That same simmering rage tore through her veins as she thought of what she had done. She nearly jumped when a dark silhouette leaned down to pull a book out of the shelf in front of her.

It was a woman, who didn't flinch as she turned her head and noticed the Uchiha girl sitting so curiously hidden behind the shelves.

Chieko recognized her as the dishevelled Tsukinowa.

"H..Hi." The woman whispered. Chieko's mouth formed a petulant scowl. The woman blinked at her, finding the familiarity of the clan's short range of expressions disconcerting.

"Hey." She spoke, begrudgingly. But there was curiosity in her voice. "I'm Chieko." She twiddled her fingers as the woman blinked and then smiled. "Ku…Kumiko." She supplied in response.

"I saw you today, you stared at me. Do you know me?"

The frankness of the Uchiha threw Kumiko off for a moment. "Eh…I don't recall. You'll have to forgive me, I might have been intoxicated."

Chieko frowned at the politeness in the woman's tone, it didn't suit her.

"What are you doing here? The Tsukinowa betrayed us."

Kumiko stared critically at the Uchiha before she spoke, her mind warning her to be cautious of such brashness "I am a prisoner of Madara-sama. In payment for freedom, I will teach the clan's jutsu and such to the Uchiha."

Chieko's mouth formed a small 'o', the connections clicking in her mind.

'That was why the scrolls had been on niisan's desk.'

The slip of emotion did not go unnoticed by Kumiko, but she did not react to it and concealed her amusement.

"Do you think it's a good idea to be teaching possibly dangerous techniques to an already powerful clan?" Chieko leaned forward slightly as she asked, trying to hide her nervous interest.

"No." Kumiko said no more as she peered down at the book in her hand, "I must be going. It was nice to meet you."

Her tone was so flat and lacking emotion that Chieko frowned as the woman vanished. She felt like she'd spoken to a ghost.


	19. Scotomaphobia

_Hello! A long chapter awaits! Reviews are much appreciated, in fact I'd like to ask a favour of you guys, could you possibly leave me some suggestions on how to approach Tobirama's character? I find him immensely complicated to write._

 _Also, I found an amazing track on youtube, Kimimaro's theme (MindShift remix). I wrote this chapter while listening to it, so give it a listen if you feel like it!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

"She has been acting strange. I found a number of scrolls in our chambers today on the Sharingan and more specifically, on the Tsukiyomi."

Tsuki remained crouched as she reported her findings to Izuna, the latter remaining stoic and unresponsive.

"I do not see your reason for concern."

The Uchiha faltered, "I…She hasn't been herself. She's become paranoid, she avoids me as well as others and is gone from her room for most of the day. I fear she has some…hostility towards the clan. I found her cloak and she'd torn the uchiwa from it and torn that into shreds. Furthermore, she won't wear _anything_ with the clan's symbol on it."

Izuna remained silent as he listened, his eyes wandering to the pools of light bouncing on the ceiling.

"Noted. Keep an eye on her, but give her some space. There may be some trauma she is attempting to cope with."

Izuna had lowered his gaze back to the kunoichi, mildly intrigued by the pained look on her face.

"Don't worry."

The statement caught her slightly off guard and she bowed her head, "Thank you, Izuna-sama."

It had been a week since Chieko had been in the Chambers. And today she found herself in the company of the dreary and silent Kumiko.

Chieko realized the woman was probably _mad._

" _What?_ Did you say _resurrection?_ "

Kumiko only nodded, prodding the body on the bench. Chieko had to hold down a gag, yelping as the body thrashed and then died. Again.

"Let it stay dead." She groaned, feigning exhaustion as she rolled her eyes. There was a reason she was here, and she felt impatient. "Kumiko-chan, listen."

The girl turned her head to stare, just as the door was thrown open. Madara stood in the doorway, "Kum-" He paused, his eyes landing on Chieko. The other Uchiha stared at him wearily, eyes glancing from Kumiko to Madara. The Tsukinowa suddenly seemed livelier, something odd in her eyes as she waited for Madara to finish addressing her.

His body language changed drastically, clamping up and withdrawing. Both woman noticed and glanced at each other. Chieko hadn't seen him since _that night._ She felt awkward, but more so than awkward, she felt _angry._

"Chieko." He acknowledged, hands behind his back. Eyes narrowing, she turned away from him to her friend, who looked confused. "Excuse me Kumiko-chan, I must leave."

As she passed Madara, she stared at the open hallway behind him, bumping shoulders with him.

"Such disrespect." Kumiko spoke dryly, turning away to do something else. Madara huffed, a guilty look in his eyes, "What did you do to make someone so bold dislike you so openly?"

Unsure of how to answer that, he narrowed his eyes. "None of your business."

But just as she turned her attention back to him, Madara was gone. He strode down the hallway, silent and fluid as the wind. Seizing Chieko by the elbow he pushed her ahead of him. She stiffened under his touch, the wind sweeping her short hair towards Madara. The scent of pine wafted around him, irritating him further.

Nobody really noticed the pair as Madara shoved her into what was Izuna's room.

The door slammed shut just as Chieko turned to stare defiantly into his eyes.

"Is there a problem?" Her voice was too relaxed, clashing with the hostile chill in the room.

"You tell me."

They stared at each other until Chieko, uncomfortable under the pressure of his presence, shifted to rub her arm.

"There are no problems, Madara-sama. I have been unwell."

"You lie so easily to me, have you forgotten who I am?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "No."

"You haven't been reporting to duty."

 _Duty._ The word set off something within her. Chieko tried desperately to suppress the hatred that began to pool behind her eyes. Madara stood composed, handsome face illuminated at all the right angles.

But as she stared at this man, all she could think of was how much she wanted to _kill him._

"Your feelings are an irrational reaction."

The cool observation made it worse.

"I never meant to hurt or offend you Chieko. I apologize if I did. I want you to take the weekend off and return to duty right after. Nothing has changed."

The act was in essence, considerate and meaningful. The heir had put thought into Chieko's reaction to him. She avoided him, ignored him, and now gave off the thick intent to _kill._ Under regular happenstance, this would be considered a betrayal.

But Chieko seemed too harmless, too dissociated with the outside clans to be capable of an act of betrayal.

 _Some hours later_

Ducking into the shadows, Chieko leaned against the wall and concealed her chakra, eyes shining red for a moment before she disappeared.

Ken Uchiha was an elder with no immediate relatives. Most of his family had been killed, all his sons were dead, and their sons were out on the battlefields and spent no time bonding with their grandfather.

He lived alone.

Despite the tough exterior and the secrecy, his tiny residence was an open book. Over the week, Chieko had monitored his coming and going, learning quickly that he had a regimented schedule. At 4 AM regularly, he made a trip to the hotsprings. He stayed there for about two hours, giving Chieko plenty of time to break into his house and search for any information on the forbidden jutsu she had been made part of.

Then, regularly, she had infiltrated and read through everything she could find. Eventually she broke the seal to a secret compartment within the old man's house and victoriously pulled out three nearly frayed scrolls.

The content of these scrolls stunned her into a silence so deep that she didn't hear the loud noises outside. A massive impact that shook the compound, quite literally shook her to attention.

'What in the world?'

Peering through a window, her eyes widened. She could sense Senju chakra along with Uzumaki.

Being a scout meant keeping an eye on and knowing _every_ clan's distinct signatures _._ Chieko dove to the left as a kunai whizzed past where her shoulder would have been. Clutching the fraying scrolls to her chest she bounced onto her feet.

And gasped.

"Chieko." Ken stood very still, his hands in his sleeves. She had been caught.

"Hello, taichou." The distress in her voice was clear. She fidgeted.

He moved towards her, but Chieko had her mangekyo swirling in her eyes and when Ken's gaze met hers he barked a laugh.

"I have infinitely more experience using that, young brat."

He was gone in a flicker and Chieko ducked and whirled, avoiding him triumphantly. Then she was thrown off her ankles and into a table.

"I suspected you would betray us."

"If you think a jutsu as dangerous as this should be used against our enemies, you're sick." Her voice quivered as she stood, clutching the scrolls tightly. She had her katanas strapped on either hip, but as her hands shook, she did not have the gusto in her to unsheathe them.

Ken looked on, "With the Senju slaughtering our clan, how much of a choice do you think we have?"

The calm in his voice made her quivering worse and she dropped the scrolls, staring at her feet. Ken remained silent and still. He could see the tears dripping onto the floor, darkening as the wood absorbed the miniscule drops.

When she looked up at him again, there was a darkness in her eyes. He recognized the change.

"Do you care much for the Senju?"

"There was a chance to come to terms, to have a rational tru-"

"They would continue killing us, even if they signed on a pact!" He spat slightly as he erupted, his eyes wide. Chieko, mirroring his anger, pressed on. "A truce would mean you elders wouldn't control how many children went out to die! What sort of life do you expect the Uchiha children to have if they're tearing apart human flesh before they can understand the difference between what's right and wrong?! It's twisted!"

Her fists clenched as she glared on, "You made me hurt a _friend,_ not an _enemy._ "

He scoffed, but she cut him off, "One day our children will grow together and fight together, in the name of peace and brotherhood and love."

"Tsukiyomi!"

"Amaterasu!"

Chieko was hit hard by the genjutsu, her body paralysed momentarily as she made the handseals to break out of it, struggling to keep chakra steady.

To any clan bystander, the two Uchihas fighting would set off red flags and they would have intervened. However, the young Uzumaki Mizuki froze when he saw the two locked in what appeared to be a stare-off.

Until the male began to scream.

Black flames consumed his body quickly, his screams filling the thick air as the woman stared at him. She wiped one of her eyes hastily, moving to pick up the scrolls. However when she glanced down, they were gone and Mizuki stood behind where Ken once was, his blue eyes wide with horror.

"Y..You…You're sick!"

Chieko faltered, her jaw clenched as she spoke.

"Give those to me."

The Uzumaki narrowed his eyes, she couldn't be much older than him. To further his horror, she flickered and reappeared behind him, attempting to grapple with him as he launched himself to the ceiling. She followed.

Before Mizuki could respond, another female dove into the room, ignoring Chieko and seized Mizuki by his blonde hair. Using his legs, he kicked away from her and disappeared in a flash, leaving the Uchihas confused.

Chieko immediately recognized that as Tobirama's technique.

Tsuki turned her onyx eyes to Chieko, "You're a traitor." Chieko's mangekyo swirled wildly in her eyes, "You don't know what you're talking about Tsuki-chan."

The other woman scoffed, launching herself at Chieko, her own sharingan now activated. A sharp sting caused Chieko to step down to her regular sharingan too.

"You killed taichou."

'Had she been watching?'

Chieko's eyes widened a fraction.

Wasting no time, Tsuki attacked Chieko again, this time Chieko evaded clumsily, throwing herself out of the residence and onto the street.

Before she crashed, she pushed herself to cast another genjutsu, catching Tsuki cleanly in it. The woman froze, not comprehending how to break out of it before she collapsed.

Chieko launched herself onto her ankles, pausing to deactivate her sharingan. She could see the blond not too far, taking down an Uchiha.

 _Where were the scrolls?_

Hissing, she leapt across the wide cobbled street towards him. Sensing her fast approaching, the Uzumaki kicked an approaching Uchiha in the face and sent him flying into a wall. He had barely moved to run when Chieko launched herself at him, tackling him to the ground.

He hadn't expected the female to want hand-to-hand combat. Her fist met his jaw before he could yell and he kicked her over his head. She flipped and landed on her feet, one scroll in her hand as she grinned menacingly at him.

"Give me the others, boy."

"How about no."

"I didn't give you a choice."

You know that thing they say about not looking Uchiha in the eye? Mizuki had made the mistake of glaring at her head on. He was whirling into an inverted world and before he knew it he was thrown out of it.

What felt like split seconds to him, was nearly a minute in the real world. Chieko was gone, as were the scrolls. Disoriented, the blonde boy jumped up too fast and was hit by a wave of nausea, kneeling over to puke at his feet.

Chieko had managed to hurry her way through to the main area of attack. She paused as an earthen wall flew up in front of her. To her right, Kumiko was defending a massive group of children.

She sealed the scrolls into a single one and pocketed it. Running up the wall to the top, she crouched momentarily, rolling precariously to the left as white hair flew up into her vision. She thought she had managed to evade him, however, Tobirama knocked a fist into her belly, an 'oof' escaping her lips as she flew up into the air like a rag-doll. Flickering, she managed to evade another fist as she caught his elbow and flipped her body over him. He reached out, lightning fast, and fisted her hair.

Only to find himself grasping at a log. Cussing, he dove down, sensing her behind him, he turned to see her _running away._ When he glanced back over the wall, he saw the mesmerized Uchiha children staring at him with wide eyes.

Turning away from them coldly, he followed Chieko.

He felt her behind him, whirling only to find Chieko throwing herself off his shoulders.

' _Stop evading everything!'_

When he reached to grasp her ankles, he caught her too easily. It took a moment for him to realize he'd been caught in an illusion.

Chieko materialized before him, looking as though she were about to say something. The Senju blinked and his lips curled with an emotion Chieko couldn't identify.

Before she could speak, the world shattered as Tobirama tore out of the illusion. He caught Chieko by the throat, water whirling around his arm and into her mouth. Her eyes widened and then she exploded into a burst of feathers.

' _That goddamn witch.'_

The world seemed to burst into chaos as people fought on around them. He wanted to hurt her for hurting him, but he couldn't get his hands on her. He decided, as he flashed away, that two could play this game.

'I need to find that damned bonde!' Chieko hastened through the narrower lane she found herself in, nearly slipping in a pool of blood as she ran. There was a blonde up ahead, who turned around to attack her just as she flipped over him, her palm striking the nerve by his neck

Tobirama sensed her out, exerting his skills to locate her as she knocked out an Uzumaki. Suppressing his chakra, he leapt behind her knowing she only expected him to use his _hiraishin._ With a triumphant grunt, he knocked his shoulder into her spine, sending her sprawling.

She crashed into a crumbling wall, her head whipping back on impact. It left her dazed, her eyes were already throbbing. She felt too much pain to activate her sharingan, and relented to stay put. One of her sleeves had torn and her jaw ached.

Tobirama appeared before her, one foot resting on a piece of the wall that had narrowly missed her hand. He seized her hair, pulling her face up, to find shrunken pupils.

"Can you see at all?"

When she didn't respond, he pulled her hair harder.

"Does it matter?" She replied through clenched teeth, defiance in her tone.

A rage possessed him to strike her, not with fists, but with an open palm cleanly across her face. He had released her hair on impact, the slap throwing her to the left. Grunting in pain, Chieko spat blood as she began to laugh shakily.

"After everything I've done, you _slap_ me?" She chirped another shrill laugh.

"I would kill you, but that would be too easy."

"And boring, eh?" Her voice was crusty. She moved to sit up as her vision steadied. Soon she could make out the form of his knees, slowly peeking up at his face through her lashes. His arms were crossed as he stared down at her, his face beholding that stone-faced expression.

"I betrayed them." She whispered. He hadn't heard her, turning his head as he flickered and disappeared. Misaki came crashing where he had been, bouncing onto his feet and flipping backwards to avoid a female Senju that came charging at him.

She wondered if Tobirama had heard her. As she struggled to stand up, she felt her ankle click painfully and nearly fell over. Tobirama was back, slim fingers wrapping around her throat as he hoisted her up.

"What did you say _Uchiha?_ " He sneered at her as she choked out an illegible response, her hands clawing at his gloved ones.

"Sorry, I can't hear you." He tilted his head, "What?"

When she realized he was mocking her, a sharp pang in her chest erupted. Hot tears trickled down her face and he cruelly narrowed his eyes, "What's wrong?"

Losing her breath, she could feel her skin bruising, her lungs choking for oxygen.

He dropped her and she crumpled, gasping loudly for air.

"As if I could give you an honourable death."

"Wait." She choked out, pushing herself onto her knees as she stared up at him, "Wait, Tobirama."

He stared down at her, expression still stoic.

"Did the…Were you…The genjutsu I used on you. It worked."

"It did." He responded coldly.

"The…clan…forbidden...tsu." She panted out, her hand shooting to her head as a sharp sensation jolted her brain. "I…scrolls….Uzumaki…blonde." She was gasping for breath and Tobirama's hands went limp by his side, unsure of what was happening to her.

"…destroy…them."

She peeked up at him to see that his stoic mask was gone, he looked confused, his mouth slightly parted as he vanished, piecing together what Chieko had just told him.

' _He still trusted me.'_

Coughing, Chieko clenched her eyes and rolled herself onto her back, smiling petulantly at the dark sky above her. She waited for her blood to even out, feeling the throb in her head slowly die down. She wasn't laying down for long however, as soon as she felt her breathing even out, she clambered onto her feet.

It was time to leave.


	20. Decidophobia

Hello. Enjoy. _I am crippled by crumbling self-doubt and disorientation BECAUSE MY LAPTOP WON'T LET ME SAVE ANYTHING .O_

* * *

Chieko had lied.

When Tobirama found Mizuki after the Senju had retreated, the blonde explained to him how he'd come across the scrolls. He was quick to mention how Chieko had knocked him out and taken the scrolls, frowning at the grass he fisted and pulled. Tobirama stood over him.

' _That troublesome woman.'_

"She killed another Uchiha." Tobirama stated dryly, eyes darting to a group of his clansmen that were huddled over a body.

"That's what I just said. She took the scrolls from me too, why would she tell you I had them?" Mizuki looked sullen, his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned down in a dissatisfaction.

Tobirama frowned, his mouth curling into an unhappy pout as he stared across the fields at Hashirama. Reluctant to cross paths with the female, he went over all the information he had on her current situation.

' _I'll have to find her myself_.'

It made no sense for her remain with her clan, especially after she'd murdered an elder and left the witnesses alive. Tobirama closed his eyes, feeling the weight of them just above the bridge of his nose. The very idea that a kunoichi of her standing could leave so many loose ends irritated him. Clenching his fists, he began to stride towards his brother.

If there was anything he _could_ do, it was this: find her and take her in as a prisoner, along with the scrolls. He was curious as to what they contained, questioning Chieko's broken explanation from the attack on the Uchiha. He had trusted her.

' _Then again, if she was trying to get me to leave so she could escape, the best thing to do was send me after these 'scrolls'.'_

The irritation he felt was secondary only to frustration. Not at any of the Uchiha, but rather, irritation towards himself. For a shinobi of his experience and intelligence to trust someone as dubious as Chieko, was beyond naïve. It was stupid.

He wondered sullenly if Chieko would try to kill him if he managed to track her down.

He snorted at the thought. She spent more time running away on a battlefield than anyone else.

* * *

On the edges of a dense forest, the trees cleared out to leave some feet of sun burnt grass just before a sudden drop into the dip of a valley. Here Chieko sat cross legged, just beyond the borders of fire country. Her arms were crossed and her cloak was wrapped loosely around her shoulders as she glared down at the three scrolls placed before her.

'What do I do with you?'

She had the choice to either burn them, keep them, or hand them over to the Senju to clear out any misunderstandings between her and Tobirama.

'No, that last one isn't a good idea.' She frowned some more. At one point, she had contemplated eating them. Chieko had spent four nights without food, chewing herbs whenever she found them. To her chagrin, the landscape got drier the further she travelled.

'I really should have planned this out.'

Her stomach growled out, much louder than before, and she dipped her head forwards and felt the warmth of the departing sun on top of her head.

* * *

"Stop following me Mizuki."

Tobirama had paused behind a trunk, aware that his young student and friend had been tailing him.

"Hashirama ordered me to keep you company."

"He only _suggested._ "

"Same thing. I'm already here, let me come with you."

Sighing in surrender, Tobirama uncrossed his arms. "You don't know what we're up against. Don't complain if you get frustrated."

Mizuki Uzumaki pouted stubbornly, "I won't."

' _He has all of Mito's headstrong attitude, and none of her tact.'_ At the thought, Tobirama's lips curled pleasantly.

"Why are you smiling senpai?"

"None of your business."

"You look seriously creepy when you do that."

Tobirama blanked, staring stone-facedly at his junior. "When I smile?"

"No, when you smile _for no reason._ "

He threw his head back and let out a charming laugh, the action and the _sound_ causing Mizuki's ears to warm up.

* * *

As Chieko sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she panicked. The sun had set and darkness had arrived, the light of the stars twinkling over the land that stretched out before her. The scrolls were still in front of her. She had held her breath in as she felt for them, finding her vision to be hazy.

Using the sharingan had taken its toll on her eyes. She groaned.

Pushing herself onto her feet, she pocketed the scrolls that were now resealed inside a single roll. Placing her palm on the grass and holding up her other hand, she shut her eyes as she felt the land for any other sources of chakra. Relieved to find nothing close by, she moved forward, sprinting to the cliff and pouncing off, feet kicking the air.

Landing with a grunt and rolling onto her back and off her shoulders, Chieko sat for a moment on her knees and sighed.

'Where am I even going?'

Pushing herself on, she struggled to push herself onto her feet, finding refuge in the shadows as she moved. The terrain here was beginning to change, pointed earthen rock jutting from the grass at random. The land sloped downwards sleepily here. Although Chieko could not see it so clearly in the darkness of the night, she was aware of the slope as she walked, feeling the gravity exerting its influence on her knees.

 _Somewhere in the shadows..._

"Why are-"

Tobirama held up a hand to silence Mizuki, throwing him an angry glare as he pressed a finger to his own lips to indicate silence. Up the slope of the valley, a cloaked figure stood very still, its arms held up as Mizuki assumed it was _stretching_.

He hadn't understood why Tobirama wanted to take the long loop around to the other side of the valley until they'd started walking back through it.

The terrain was what Chieko Uchiha would use to her advantage during the night. However, she discounted the fact that she was nearly blind in the dark, something Tobirama had cared to remember.

' _She was stubborn and didn't think these things through entirely.'_

He'd followed her from a distance, keen that he was _just_ out of her sensory range.

"Conceal your chakra. All of it. And _stay here."_

Before Mizuki could disagree, Tobirama had vanished, having thrown a kunai in the direction of the figure, who jumped a foot in the air at the sudden appearance of the Senju.

"Holy f*** s***!" Chieko yelped, her arm hitting the ground as she threw her body sideways to avoid Tobirama's fist. The kunai he'd thrown in her direction had been unseen and sliced clearly past her arm, tearing a gash through the sleeve and cutting her skin. She hissed in pain once she felt the sting of the injury.

' _Not so fast.'_

He caught hold of her cloak and she let out a strangled sound. The sound of the cloth ripping seemed to echo just as a chilly breeze floated through the valley. Chieko fumbled blindly as she rolled onto the grass, finding her footing with her arms protectively in front of her. She was not in optimum shape for jutsu use.

Tobirama realized he'd never seen her do much besides the occasional Katon jutsu.

"Give me the scrolls Chieko."

"I can't. I destroyed them."

She took a step back, her eyes narrowed at the Senju. "You have to let me go, Tobirama."

"No." He'd marked her with the _hiraishin,_ so when she moved to run, he was behind her again. However, Chieko continued to run, ducking and leaping away from Tobirama although it was apparent to her that it was _futile._

Her shins began to ache, and the stitch in her side warned her that she was slowing down. Tobirama on the other hand, was still quick enough to catch her if he wished, but seemed to amuse himself by watching her sprint in attempts to get away from him.

"It would be a shame," She panted, resting her palms on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, "If you took me prisoner."

"Wouldn't it?" Tobirama stared down at her, moving so quickly that Chieko had barely just blinked as he knocked her out.

Throwing the lithe girl over his shoulder, he crinkled his nose. She smelt like the forest, pine and decaying leaves. She had been moving for four days, and he doubted that she'd stopped anywhere to rest.

' _I've dealt with worse stenches than this.'_

Disappearing from the slope, he reappeared by Mizuki and grabbed the boy by the arm. The blonde quirked an eyebrow, always mildly irritated when Tobirama would rush things.

"Let's go."


	21. Traumatophobia

_Enjoy!_

* * *

The world spun heavily and slowly as Chieko opened her eyes, her face suddenly aware of the uneven and rough ground beneath her. Groaning, she sat up too quickly and clenched her eyes shut as the world swam.

Fluttering her eyelashes, she squinted at the white wall across from her, it had something on it, blurry lines forming a symbol that she couldn't identify. All she could see was bits of black stretching horizontally against the off-white. She moved towards it on her knees, and her forehead met with newly-appeared bars.

Or rather, she had just _seen_ the bars. Her eyes were incredibly to slow to adjust to the amount of sunlight she had woken up to.

"Ow." Moving her arms to rub her forehead, she found that her arms were bound behind her.

"…" She peered silently over her shoulder, her body feeling stiff. Huffing, she sat back down on the rough earth, bits of pebble making her uncomfortable. On either side of her, the bars looked into more cells. _All of them were empty._

Once she'd sat down, she recalled her encounter with Tobirama. She narrowed her eyes at the thought of him.

'How hard did he hit me?!' Closing her eyes again, she shook her head, gently. Her mouth was parched and her stomach hurt to the point of agony.

"You must be hungry." A flat female voice addressed Chieko, approaching her cell with a brusque stride that could only belong to a lady. The dark haired woman had slim eyes and was tall for lady-standards.

Chieko couldn't recall many high-born ladies that were this _tall._

Unceremoniously, she placed an earthen bottle and a loaf of bread through the space between the bars, onto the uneven ground. Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away.

"…Hey! Hey wait!" Chieko called, shuffling closer to the bars on her knees. But the woman was gone.

Frustrated, Chieko eyed the bread as her stomach growled again. "How am I supposed to eat this with no hands?"

The dawning realization that she was expected to eat off the floor caused a vein to twitch just above her eyebrow as Chieko frowned. Stomach growling again, Chieko shuffled closer to the bread and bent at the waist to pick it off the ground with her mouth.

She shuffled back to the wall at the far end of the little prison and leaned up against it, pulling her knees up and clenching the bread between them as she tore off pieces and chewed slowly. Her mouth was dry but it was safe to say she wasn't as dehydrated as she was hungry- there had been ample sources of water along the way as she'd left her compound, the ice melting into streams and small rivers along the landscape.

Once she was done eating, she bent a little to wipe her mouth free of any crumbs on her shoulder, staring at the shackles around her ankles. They were marked with seals, suppressing her chakra so completely that she felt a silence within her body that was unnerving. It meant she wouldn't be able to activate her sharingan either. It was numbing.

She leant her head against the cool stone behind her and shut her eyes, wondering what had come of the scrolls.

* * *

"…And then she knocked me out using a genjutsu and took that scroll from me again." Mizuki explained, his eyes darting to the scroll Tobirama had handed Hashirama. He placed it on the table, unsealing it.

"Ah," He didn't seem phased when he realized there were _three_ scrolls within it. Tobirama had suspected there were more since Chieko kept referring to them in the plural. "You were right Tobirama."

Tobirama nodded silently, his arms crossed as Hashirama unrolled the first and read it quickly. His mouth thinned into a line as he read the other two.

"This one is the original, it's really old. Barely legible actually." He placed the fraying scroll in the centre of the table. "These are both recent copies of it, one of them has been transcribed by Madara. The unsigned one has an error that's been highlighted in red." He placed the other two above the older scroll.

Tobirama leaned forward and shifted the scroll so he could read it, his expression stoic as he comprehended its content.

"A long-distance Tsukiyomi." He muttered, remaining silent as he read some more.

Pushing his chair back, he placed his right palm calmly on the surface of the table as he stood, causing the wood to splinter beneath it. Mizuki had noted the way his shoulders had tensed before he stood, expecting his anger to express itself outwardly at some point.

"This is what they used on me."

Hashirama nodded, "That's also why you saw Chieko. Look here," He pointed at one of the many lines, "It says the final execution requires someone familiar with the chakra of the target. She was most familiar with yours. I think we should have audience with the girl."

Mizuki was up quickly, "I'll bring her Hashirama-sama." The Senju nodded, and as the blonde departed from the tent, Tobirama ran a hand through his messy hair.

"I wonder where Chieko was taking these."

"We'll just have to find out won't we?"

The brothers remained silent for a moment, Tobirama broke it, "In the genjutsu, she asked me if I was real." He was staring intently at the scrolls.

Hashirama's eyes widened, "You didn't mention this before."

"It's possible that she did not know she was being dragged into this. This jutsu requires more than one Uchiha. I distinctly remember sensing a cocktail of chakra that I couldn't identify along with hers."

Hashirama crossed his arms, observing his younger brother with shrewd eyes, "Are you suggesting she's innocent?"

' _Obviously.'_ Tobirama kept this thought to himself, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm not sure, Hashirama."

* * *

"Where are you taking me?"

Chieko had been surprisingly compliant. Mizuki had been slightly afraid that she would resort to biting him, recalling the description Tobirama had given of the behaviour she resorted to on the battlefield. As she questioned him, he ignored her, pushing and prodding her as he guided her to the tent.

"Have you gone deaf Uzumaki?"

He felt his eyebrow twitch. Surrounding clan members gave her odd looks, some cold, some intrigued.

"Is Tobirama here?"

He pushed her to stop her from slowing down and she nearly stumbled, regaining her footing easily.

"Does he have the scrolls? Did he read them?"

Her questions were getting on his nerves. He hadn't expected her to be compliant _or noisy._ He'd always assumed that all Uchiha were the silent and deadly type.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked again.

"To Hashirama-sama." He hoped he sounded cold, he tried to mimic Tobirama as he spoke. He was pleased when he noticed her shoulders stiffen. She peered over her shoulder at him.

"….Is Tobrama there too?" Her voice was quiet and less annoying as she asked.

"Yes." A baritone voice came from ahead of them.

Her head snapped back, and from where Mizuki stood he swore he saw the tips of her ears turn red. She froze, causing Mizuki to nearly walk into her.

Tobirama stared at Chieko with his never-faltering, cool gaze. Mizuki wondered how he did it. It left Chieko flustered.

' _Even after the beating he gave her.'_ Observed Mizuki as he stepped around her and tugged her by the elbow, jerking his head towards the entrance to the tent that Tobirama had just now disappeared into.

Her wide eyes travelled slowly to Mizuki, pulling her gaze away from where the Senju had been as she whispered to the Uzumaki, "Are they going to kill me?"

"I don't know." He replied flatly, noticing the way her pupils widened. Her eyes were a lighter grey than most Uchihas.

She took in a deep breath, her face morphing into the expressionless one that made her look like all the other Uchihas Mizuki had seen. She walked passed him and into the tent without a moment's hesitation.

He followed, stepping around her and to the side, to stand close enough to the entrance in case she tried to run.

"Uchiha Chieko."

"Hashirama-sama." She responded with a nod of her head, looking straight at him and resisting the urge to eye Tobirama again.

"I understand that your circumstances are different from the usual prisoners of war. Not only are you captive here, you have also betrayed the Uchiha clan, as far as I understand. The clan has sent out a warrant with your description to their allied clans, including the Hyuuga."

'So he goes straight to business…' Chieko had hoped he would give her the same optimistic and warm greeting he shed on her each time they had met each other. That was only to say, she'd never run into him in battle.

Tobirama watched Chieko carefully, noting that she did not flinch, nor did her face express any shock. If she felt surprised, she kept it well-hidden.

She nodded once, acknowledging Hashirama's words.

"Why did you take the scrolls from them?"

"You understand why." She responded coolly, "You've read them."

Hasirama stared at her silently, Tobirama could tell he was irritated by her response. He preferred answers to implications.

"Were you taking these somewhere?" He leant his elbows on the table, knitting his fingers under his chin. His gaze never faltered from her. Tobirama remained to his left, standing with his arms crossed across his chest as he scrutinized her.

"I was going to destroy them."

"But you had the scrolls on you after leaving your clan far behind, when Tobirama found you."

That was when Chieko faltered momentarily, chewing her lip as she clenched her hands together behind her back.

"I…I was hoping I would run into him."

She peered down at her toes.

' _What?'_

Tobirama narrowed his eyes. Hashirama's eyes travelled to his brother, noticing how he'd stiffened in his periphery. He turned his gaze back to the Uchiha, whose cheeks were pink.

"I considered Tobirama-senpai a friend. This jutsu- I wasn't aware of what it was. I was told it was a test of loyalty so I assumed that he was just part of the illusion when he appeared."

Hashirama kept his reactions concealed, but inwardly he blanched and was reeling in surprise.

"I wanted him to see the scrolls before I destroyed them, so I could justify that I hadn't meant to hurt him in anyway."

"That was a naïve idea." Tobirama finally spoke, his emotionless gaze settling coldly on the flustered and upset Uchiha before him. "You betrayed your clan and risked death for an apology."

Not missing a beat, Chieko's eyes darted to him upon hearing his voice. "I was going to betray them regardless, when I decided I would destroy the scrolls."

Her voice was full of a fiery pride that Hashirama had seen in a younger Madara, once when they had been friends. She continued, her eyes narrowing dangerously at his brother, "If I was going to _die_ , I thought I would _apologize_ because I valued the trust you _had_ in me, while I could."

"Why did you want to destroy the scrolls? It would give your clan an easy win, had they mastered the jutsu."

Hashirama's interruption caused Chieko to tear her gaze away from Tobirama, blinking as if she'd forgotten Hashirama had been in the room. It took a moment for the intensity of her stare to melt away.

"It's not just that it would cause more death," The anger left her eyes, "It would ruin all the little opportunities at peace that exist. If the Uchiha conquered the lands and the other clan's territories, they would probably want to expand. Can you imagine the destruction?"

Earnestly, she shuffled forwards as she spoke, "I had the power to prevent such a thing, so _I acted on it. Don't_ disregard my concern for my clan and for yours, as well as the lives of all the people that suffer _because of this war._ "

When she moved, Mizuki's hand moved immediately to the hilt of his katana and Tobirama uncrossed his arms. Hashirama, however, did not flinch. Tobirama had never seen Chieko look so desperate and angry, despite the situations they had been in together.

It made him respect her.

"I understand your concern. Therefore, we will destroy these scrolls right now, in front of you."

Before anyone in the room could speak, Hashirama had set the scrolls aflame. The ink reacted to the fire, causing an eerie whistle. The orange flames hurt her eyes to stare at, but she could not pull her gaze from them.

"How do we know these were the only copies?" Tobiramas quite voice broke the silence that had fallen over them.

"They were the only ones attested by Madara-sama. That indicates that the copies of it would be made _from_ that copy." Chieko responded flatly.

"Hashirama-sama, if we are done here, could I return to my cell please? I'd like some time alone." Her voice never wavered, Hashirama nodded coolly to her just as the flames diminished to ash.

"Mizuki will escort you back."

"Thank you." She bowed her head in gratitude. Turning on her heel, she did not spare Tobirama a glance. Mizuki fell into step with her, Tobirama stared at her back as she left, eyes narrowed at her in some mild form of annoyance.

It seemed to him that Chieko enjoyed all the subtlest ways to irritate him.

* * *

As Mizuki walked back to the tent he'd left his sensei and Hashirama-sama in, he remained silent, eyes wide in thought.

He did not know what to make of Chieko. She broke all his presumptions about the Uchiha and yet, reinforced them in many ways. Disregarding her typical appearance, she had the pride and the short-temper. She also had a passion he hadn't expected, like the bright burning light of the sun.

He couldn't associate the Uchiha with anything except mad flames and shadows.

"She must be insane." He mumbled audibly as he stepped back into the tent.

Tobirama eyed him and Hashirama smiled knowingly at the Uzumaki.

"I suspect so."

Tobirama chuckled, shaking his head as he finally sat down on the chair and noticed the crack he'd made earlier, "I believe it is something else altogether."

"What else could it possibly be?" Mizuki twitched, sounding agitated, Tobirama tilted his head with a knowing look and his lips seemed to curl. He was _very_ satisfied with Chieko's apology, it seemed. Although, Mizuki was sure, he would never let the girl know. Hashirama glanced at his brother curiously.

"The Uchiha are passionate people, it's their passion and love for things that drives their strength. When those things are threatened, they respond in… _ugly_ ways."

Mizuki spoke without thinking, "You're telling us she's in love with you?" He flushed with embarrassment when Tobirama's eyes widened and his mouth dropped, he looked as if he'd been caught off guard.

Hashirama threw his head back and laughed so uncontrollably, he shook in his chair and eventually laid his head upon the table, wiping a tear from his eye as he did so.

Shaking his head, Tobirama responded by closing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm telling you she loves peace and the future more than war and growing military strength."

Despite all he did to control his reaction to Mizuki's words, Tobirama couldn't hide the flush that spread across his cheeks, his face heating up considerably.

' _That troublesome witch.'_


	22. Monophobia

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Chieko shifted awkwardly, her hands were still bound behind her back, making it impossible for her to lie down.

Groaning, she crossed her legs under her and stretched her back, her shoulder blades clicking uncomfortably from the movement. She sighed.

'What on earth am I supposed to do now?'

She had been here two days, the sun had set earlier and now all she could make out were the little blots of yellow behind the canvas that blocked her view from the rest of the Senju clan.

'Lanterns.' She observed, watching one particular dot as it grew brighter, 'Someone's approaching this little shithole.' She leaned forward slightly in anticipation, but the light bobbed away to the left. Chieko wilted, scrunching her nose.

She was not used to this lack of human interaction.

"Chieko."

The sight of Tobirama Senju, on the inside of her cell, without a sound or any prior indication of his approach or arrival, startled her so much that the back of her head collided with the stone behind her as she looked up, with a very loud ' _thwack'._

Tobirama flinched from the sound. "Relax."

"Why do you insist on sneaking up on me? C...Can't you be normal?"

He stared at her as if he hadn't understood her words, the gears in his brain slowly turning to the realization that only Hashirama and his close clansmen were un-surprised when he materialized out of the air. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did." In the dim lighting, he could only make out the glimmer of her eyes and the blue-ish pale skin. She looked like a ghost.

"Why didn't they give you a lantern in here?" He moved to the corner, as if to sit, only to realize there was a lantern perched just outside the bars, unlit.

"They don't let me have anything, _someone_ told them I'm a pro at improvisation." Her voice was scratchy, and Tobirama chose to ignore the remark.

Although she couldn't see him move in the dark, the sudden breeze indicated that Tobirama had flickered out of the cell and back in again, the lantern in his hand now lit. He placed it in front of him and sat cross-legged across from Chieko, his rose irises obviously studying her.

Her skin was stretched tightly over her face and the prominent lines underneath her eyes looked grey. The bruise on her cheek from where he'd slapped her stood out angrily against her pale skin, a startling freckle of maroon splotches across the curve of her cheek bone. It took some force to dispel the guilt at the sight of it.

' _She's still an enemy.'_ He reminded himself. "You look dehydrated."

"Ah, because I am." She gave him a dimmed smile, her eyes slightly hooded.

"Wait here." Tobirama was gone again, leaving Chieko to scowl at his now gone form, "It's not like I can actually go anywhere!"

She mumbled in irritation about how the Senju was always an inconvenience. However, some minutes later Chieko found herself feeling impatient for his reappearance. It had been two days since she had seen anyone and the silence from the camp could only mean the area around the cells had been sealed off. It was too quiet, and too lonely.

She rocked herself and timed her breathing, the fluttering anxiety in her chest growing at the idea of being alone again.

Tobirama returned with a little crate in hand, the breeze that came with him did not bother her this time. He noticed the way her pupils widened so visibly in her light-grey eyes when they met his gaze, it would have left him slightly flustered.

"I can't undo your binds, because we're suppressing your chakra to hide you from….enemies."

She continued to stare up at him. Tobirama hesitated, not comprehending why the angle he was looking down at her from made him feel so…he didn't have a word for it, and as he kneeled down to lower the crate to the ground, his brain sang loudly in his skull.

 _Aroused._

Cursing the id that lurked in the more masculine parts of his brain, he pulled out a clay bottle of water and uncapped it. "Here," He was sitting close enough to her to extend the bottle towards her, "Drink."

She stared at the bottle, then at him, and then back to the bottle. "Is it poisoned?"

Blanching, he gave her a dim look and controlled the urge to flick her forehead. Instead, he put the bottle to his mouth and took a gulp from it, a single trickle escaping his lips and trickling down to his chin. Chieko watched the trickle just as intensely as she'd stared up at him, and when he brought the bottle to her mouth, she was too thirsty to question any further.

He let her take a few gulps, before he pulled the bottle away, not wanting her to choke. She avoided his gaze, leaning a little to continue drinking. Her cheeks were flushed, a faint pink on her now unhealthy pale skin.

Once she'd drank all the water, she leaned against the stone behind her and closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Senju."

"What happened to Tobirama- _senpai_?"

She wasn't sure whether it was the tease in his voice, or the curiosity of his question that roused her to feel flustered again.

"I didn't know what to call you in front of your brother."

He let out a scoff that sounded mildly like a laugh, and she opened an eye to watch him. He had returned to the crate and was now holding a bowl of steaming broth.

At the sight of it, her stomach let out a loud growl. This startled her, and an alarmed expression quickly made its way onto the Uchiha's face.

Tobirama's eyes widened at the sound and then his eyes shut, crows-feet forming on the corners of his eyelids as a short chuckle escaped him.

"I thought you'd be hungry."

"How considerate of you." She retorted, sitting up again. "Please unbind one arm at least, I don't trust you to feed me." She mumbled.

"I can't." His tone lost all warmth as it returned to its cold, stern self. Chieko rolled her eyes and he narrowed his own at her.

She half-expected him to say something reprimanding _._

" _Behave, girl."_

Desperately suppressing her giggle, she ended up snorting a laugh that sounded undignified.

Tobirama flushed, visibly so and scooted towards her with the bowl. "I can't believe I have to feed you."

"If you untie me, you won't have to."

"I prefer you this way."

The heated exchange of implications made both adults blush intensely in the dancing orange light. The shadows that fell across Tobirama's face weren't eerie, and Chieko felt almost comfortable with him in the dim light.

She felt the urgent need to dispel the awkwardness as he brought the spoon closer to her lips.

"You mean I'm less annoying this way."

He said nothing and was staring intensely at the broth in the bowl, not watching the spoon as her lips went around it. Sipping the soup, she flinched, "It's too hot Tobirama."

Calmly, he stirred the broth and blew it, not looking up at Chieko who unintentionally watched him with a newfound intensity. The warmth creeping up her neck was embarrassing, and she tore her gaze away to stare at the lantern.

"Here." He spoke softly, bringing the spoon up for her. She drank it, welcoming the warmth that pooled in her throat.

They sat silently like that until all the broth was finished. Chieko cleared her throat, her voice tired and still husky, "Thank you, Tobirama."

He nodded at her, placing the stone bowl beside him as he crossed his arms and watched her, "Do you know what you want to do after this?"

"After what?"

"After you get out of here."

Chieko hadn't thought that far, Tobirama had suspected so. She cleared her throat and watched the shadow of the bowl by his knee. "I haven't thought it through." She admitted gently, her shoulders visibly wilting.

"I couldn't stay here could I?" She peeked up at him, watching his face. He had no visible reaction, to her disappointment.

"That's not an option. Once their hunt for you dies down, we'll have to let you go."

"Ah," She nodded sagely, "I understand."

"You should have thought this through, Chieko."

He looked concerned, and shook his head, "You did something brave but it was still foolish."

Feeling insulted by her own lack of forward thinking, she felt herself become defensive as one of her walls cracked.

"I was just really angry. There was so much," Her voice broke, "So much _shit_ from the war, and I never wanted to be part of it, and then they made me do that thing to _you_ and I didn't know how much longer I'd stand being a part of _that_ clan-"

Abruptly, she cut herself off as she lowered her head and clenched her eyes. She was determined not to cry. Tobirama's gaze softened slightly,

"I understand. But you never owed me anything, Chieko. I want you to know that."

Righting herself, she leaned back against the stone and stared at him. "I know."

An odd, drowsy sense of familiarity enveloped both of them as their gazes locked in silence.

"There is no real friendship that holds debt." She whispered, almost inaudibly. Her eyes searched his face for a response.

Surprised, Tobirama could only blink, his expression remained stoic and he was aware of her studying him. He was familiar enough with some of the Uchiha's sayings, although they reserved statements like that for their own blood.

"I'm honoured."

They sat in silence, and Chieko shifted to lean her head comfortably against the wall as she shut her eyes. She zoned out for a few minutes, and when she opened her eyes again, Tobirama was gone. The lantern had been dimmed further to a comfortable glow.

As Tobirama placed the crate onto the makeshift kitchen table, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brows.

He would have to help her, after what she'd done.

He was indebted.

"I am ashamed of my daughter's actions. I know it is too much to ask for forgiveness so we are prepared to bare the punishment, if she is not found."

Uchiha Hikari, bowed her head gracefully. Her hair, strained with dark-silver, was tied in a neat bun that sat at the nape of her neck. She was a woman of form and excellence. She was well-respected, having married twice and born sons that carried on their noble heritage. Her only daughter, was also now her only disgrace.

Misaki too, bowed low. His rage upon hearing of his sister's betrayal had sent him into a state of silence. Madara knew his childhood-friend well enough to know that in that moment of silence and stillness, Misaki had murdered his sister about a hundred times.

"Hikari-baachan, Misaki." Madara felt tired, "The circumstances of this betrayal are unfortunate. None of us could have foreseen her actions." The rest of the elders mumbled in agreement.

"It is unlikely that we will find those scrolls again, but they simply held tactical information and are not of great value." A clean, unseen lie. The elders nodded in agreement again.

Madara noticed Misaki clench his fists as they sat on his knees.

"The truth is, Chieko was always weary of battle. It's possible that she is on the run and will continue to hide. Her betrayal is over trivial causes, and although it has injured the reputation of your family, you have contributed greatly to the success of the Uchiha. The fairest punishment to be passed onto your family, is 10 years of house arrest to the living head of the family, Hikari Uchiha." He paused as he lent his chin onto his palm, elbow resting on the arm of his chair.

"Misaki will continue to serve alongside me. The matter is closed until we hear further of Uchiha Chieko."

As they were dismissed, the elders rose and silently filed out of the room, murmuring amongst themselves. Misaki sat back on his heels, wanting private audience with Madara. His mother rose slowly, evidence of her age showing in the way she struggled to stand.

Misaki only rose to help her, and she bowed to the clan-head as she slowly stepped out of the room, her handmaiden in tow.

"House arrest?"

Misaki peeked up at him curiously. Madara was frowning down at him, although Misaki knew he was simply lost in thought. He raised his eyebrows defiantly at Misaki's curious stare, amused as Misaki further questioned him.

" _Tactical_ information?"

Madara blinked slowly, becoming mildly irritated at Misaki.

"Do you expect me to stick your old mother in a cell, Misaki?"

He rose and strode brusquely towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I will not forget, nor forgive what your sister did. But the punishment is _hers_ by right, not yours or your mother's."

He squeezed his friend's shoulder and Misaki felt himself tense up when he saw the anger burning brightly behind Madara's masked expression. His eyes always gave him away.

Chieko had cost the clan many victories. Most of all, she had also threatened the pride of a man like Uchiha Madara. The dense atmosphere around the room made his muscles feel weighted, it was simply the presence of the clan-head that immobilized him.

' _Goddamit, Chieko. What the hell have you done?'_


	23. Aphenphosmphobia

The cold wind was sharp against his skin. Normally, this was enough to numb Madara's facial muscles.

He was perched on top of one of the few undamaged buildings in their northern battlement. The destruction the Senju had caused was more than what they usually preferred.

His gaze swept across the horizon as he moved to sit, letting his legs hang off the edge of the gently sloping roof.

The destruction was evidence of anger. The smirk that formed slowly left his face warm with cruel satisfaction.

He was well aware, albeit uncomfortable with, the fact that Izuna had been building a resource of secret shinobi and kunoichi. His younger brother was still not as clever as him, despite all appearances and perceptions. Madara had been ten steps of Izuna at every point.

He lit his pipe, staring out at the narrowed heads of the mounains as he burnt the tobacco. The smirk remained on his face as he brought the pipe to his lips.

"Chieko was part of one of your plans, wasn't she?"

Kumiko's gentle voice was welcome and Madara shifted to make room for her to sit, without looking up to acknowledge her. "Of course." After being silent for a while, his voice was a rumble in his chest.

"Will you kill her?"

He took a leisurely puff, tilting his head back and looking up at the woman. She was standing behind him now, and leaned down to brush a strand of hair off his forehead. Her fingers were warm against his face, and she flinched at how cold he was.

"Only if I need to."

She remained silent, studying his face with a reserved expression. She sat beside him, breaking the silence, "You used me again." Watching him from the periphery of her vision, she saw the irritation flicker in his eyes before his lips twisted upwards once again.

"I didn't use you _entirely_. You were only a resource of information."

Kumiko's eyes strayed to the broken structures below. She had helped rebuild the foundations earlier and was feeling eerily drained. Madara lapsed to his more-serious self, "The Uchiha have a curse," He explained quietly, the wind rustling his hair back onto his forehead as Kumiko turned her attention back to him.

"When they love, they love with maddening intensity. When those things are taken away, or threatened, it drives them to take extreme steps. That is why we choose to hide the things we love."

Kumiko took a moment to absorb his words, "So Chieko is in love with Tobirama?" The tentativeness of her question alerted Madara. Kumiko and Tobirama too, had some history.

Calmly, he exhaled smoke from his nostrils, comforted by the burning sensation. "It is more likely that she felt passion for her friendship with him. She saw him as a sort of _rescuer._ Hurting him and being _used_ to hurt him without her own consent drove her to an edge."

Madara had exploited many of Chieko's weaknesses to manipulate her to this point. Her sensitivity to consent, her dislike of war and her dislike towards _him._

He turned his gaze to his partner, only to find her staring at him with intrigue and fascination. He smiled gently at her and blew a thin stream of smoke towards her. She batted it away and chuckled, sighing contentedly as she watched over the ruins of the compound with him.

"OOOIIIII!"

Chieko had crawled to the bars and began yelling, knowing that nobody would be able to hear her beyond the canvas that blocked her view of the Senju compound.

Of all the things to take into account, and for all of Tobirama's forward planning, nobody had considered that she would need to use the toilet.

"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" She yelled again, her face heating up from the pain in her bladder. She'd drank too much water last night.

"Watching you squirm is fun."

Unable to locate the source of the voice within the vicinity, Chieko looked up. Mizuki Uzumaki was peering down at her from over the roof of the cell.

"I need to use the bathroom, Uzumaki."

"You should have a pot in your cell."

"Nobody gave me anything."

Mizuki narrowed his eyes at her before vanishing. His absence caused Chieko to scowl, and just before she could yell again, Mizuki appeared outside the cell and unlocked the door.

He gestured with his head, and swinging the keys in his hands, began to lead the way. He was less cautious around her, or at least appeared to be so. He was lithe and had a swing to his step, unlike the two Senju he kept close company with.

"How come you were up there?"

"I've been watching over you since you got locked up." His callous answer caused her to flinch, she hadn't even been able to sense him.

He led her to a row of toilets all walled off by canvas. She gave him a pointed look, "My hands are kinda' tied."

He looked at her for the first time it seemed, because his eyes widened a fraction in realization and his mouth twisted into a pout.

"Ah, that's going to be a problem. Hmmm." He narrowed his eyes as he pondered, leaving Chieko to stare at him somewhat awkwardly in this precarious situation, she desperately needed to relieve herself. He simply moved behind her and removed the chains, leaving only the heavy cuffs on her wrists to suppress her chakra.

She stared at her free hands and moved quickly into one of the little cabins to relieve herself. Mizuki remained outside the door, "Remember if you try to run you won't get very far."

He was satisfied when he heard the distinct sound of trickling liquid against ceramic, affirming that she wasn't planning to escape.

When she stepped out again, she held her hands out assuming he would chain the cuffs again. Taking her arms, he pulled them behind her back and redid the binds.

"How come Tobirama couldn't remove the chains?"

"It's…a clan thing." He answered vaguely, shoving her back towards the cell. She trudged back into the little prison, bouncing on her feet. Her muscles felt incredibly stiff, and as she turned to watch the Uzumaki lock the cell again, she realized he was not a boy at all. The light, almost ginger stubble along his jaw made him look older.

His head was a mess of shaggy blonde hair, and his eyes were an intense blue. His face was long and his nose was delicate, much like Tobirama's. Chieko wondered if there was any relation. He grinned cheekily at her when he noticed her studying him.

"Like what you see?"

"You wish." Her dead-panned response bruised his ego and he scoffed, "I'm better looking than a lot of Uchiha."

"You're certainly more _colourful._ " She responded, scathingly. She leaned her weight on one leg, and if her arms weren't bound behind her back, she would've crossed her arms.

He laughed at that and rubbed his nose as he swung the keys again, "I like you."

"Lucky me." Scowling she turned her back on the Uzumaki and walked to the end of the tiny cell. He watched her as she began to pace back and forth, with a panther-like litheness that he had seen in Uchihas.

She turned his steely gaze to him as he watched her, his arms crossed in front of him. "You're just going to watch me?"

"You need a bath."

Frowning, her lips turned down in childlike unhappiness as she realized she hadn't bathed in a while.

"Why don't you draw me a bath then, boy." Her aristocratic tone made him flinch. He was aware that she was of noble birth, even by Uchiha standards. A distant cousin family of the clan-heads.

She paused in the middle of the cell and sighed, shaking her head.

"What?" Curious, he tilted his head. She eyed him and then sat down on the ground unceremoniously.

"I'm tired."

"You've been sitting in the same spot for the last two days. How are you tired?"

"Not enough nutrition."

Mizuki's cheeks flushed as he recalled watching his senpai bring food to the Uchiha. Respecting his privacy, he'd left them. Tobirama's relationship with this woman made him curious.

"Are you secretly in love with Tobirama?" The question escaped him before he could stop himself, an unhealthy habit that earned him a lot of pain occasionally.

Chieko flinched visibly at the idea and she responded in a pained voice, "No, of course not."

Smirking, stepped closer to the bars. "You sound a little defensive there."

"Don't get cocky with me."

"Frightening." He teased, although not maliciously.

Chieko felt herself tense up and her mouth clamped shut so tightly, she felt a click in her jaw. The visible silencing and withdrawn expression encouraged Mizuki to give up and return to his spot above the cell.

'I wonder.' Mused Chieko, 'What would come of such a relationship?'

She was aware that neither of them would survive for very long unless they were incredibly lucky. Tobirama was however, likely to live much longer considering his skill and strength.

'Would he give any time or thought to someone like me?'

She had never looked at a man's preferences and thoughts from such an angle before. She peered down at her unruly and unkempt form and felt irked. Chieko had never been much of a flirt, she had never taken advantage of her male company to practice wooing them, she wasn't even sure she could woo anyone.

With a pang, she recalled how smoothly Madara had seduced her, and quiet literally convinced her to go to bed with him. She shook her head free from the memory, feeling an unwanted shiver of guilt at the memory of him. Letting curiosity get the better of her, she wondered what it would be like if it had been Tobirama instead.

The idea jolted her heart so abruptly that she physically felt her chest tighten and her throat constrict momentarily.

'Calm down Chieko.' She nearly laughed, finding the new feeling odd and discomforting. She held in the nervous chuckle for a moment, before weakly laughing to herself. She shook her head, just as a massive quake seemed to rattle the compound. Bouncing up onto her feet, she ran to the bars and tried to peer out of the cell. She could only make out clouds of dust, but she could hear nothing nor sense anything.

"Mizuki?" She called out curiously. She suspected he had gone to inspect whatever it was.

The 'it' ended up being an onslaught. The rising clouds of dust and dirt indicated some sort of attack, but the lack of smoke made her suspect that it was _not_ the Uchiha.

Another quake caused the ground beneath the prison to give away from underneath her and she clung to the bars as the ground collapsed. She screamed as the prison fell lower and lower. She was unable to see anything now, save for a thin line of sight that only revealed the white of the canvas.

She became silent as an unfamiliar pair of feet walked past. They paused in front of where her cell had been and she retreated further into the dark, her feet slipping on the uneven rock. A pale hand grasped the roof of the cell and tore it off, leaving a startled Chieko to stare up at the body the hand was attached to.

A pale man, dressed in a loose grey haori, stared down at her curiously. His eyes were a light green, the colour of grass stains on sweaty palms, and his hair was a startling white.

He didn't speak a word to her as he stepped down into the pit and walked towards her. Shakily, she stood up and watched him wordlessly, unable to formulate her chances of survival. She had no chakra and no sharingan. Swallowing, she expected him to hurt her, and as he neared her she felt her spine tense up as she lunged at him and bit the visible skin on his shoulder. He let out a startled cry, followed by a string of angry curses and threw her over his shoulder.

Twisting her body so that she landed on her legs, although she fell over, she bounced up onto her ankles and ran.

He wasn't too far behind her, and as he appeared suddenly in front of her, she ducked and veered to the left, unable to use her hands to balance herself. She waited for the ground to greet her body but instead felt a cold, damp thing wrap around her legs. Soon she was immersed in a bubble of water.

Unable to breathe, she let out a startled cry, the water finding its way into her throat. She couldn't make out the forms outside the bubble, only saw the pale man get taken on by someone who appeared very blonde.

 _Mizuki._

She recognized his attire and the distinct markings of the Uzumaki swirl on the back of his haori. Just as her oxygen began to deplete, and her vision began to burn out, she was released.

Gasping for breath, she was rolled onto her back by the Uzumaki.

"Are you alright? Chieko?"

She coughed and spluttered, sitting up just as someone lunged over her and into Mizuki, knocking the blonde into the distance and leaving her to scramble to action.

Still panting for breath, she stumbled onto her feet and panicked, looking left and right for some source of distraction.

Without her chakra and her hands, she was useless.

Taking a few steps away, she felt fear quell in her chest as the pale man threw Mizuki across into a pile of broken wood. Her mind reeled quickly, and she was yelling for the attackers attention.

"Oi! You pig!"

Turning his head, rage-filled eyes scalded her form as she glared at him, taking a few steps back as she drew the man's attention. There was a bright red mark on his neck as he walked towards her and much to Chieko's horror, the skin of his left arm began to break away as a solid, sharp white bone began to protrude in weapon-form.

"W…Whoa. That's….slightly gross." She stuttered, continuing her slow backwards retreat. Her eyes began to pulsate as she felt her instincts fight the chakra restraints.

' _Calm down Chieko, there's got to be a way out of this.'_

Mizuki had just sat up from the rubble and his head snapped to his left, just as the man lunged the bone-wielding arm towards her. She had managed to dodge the first time, but as he quickened, she couldn't keep up and the bone went through the skin of her right arm as she lunged to dodge.

A scream escaped her as she fell, rolling to evade a foot. The man paused for a moment over her, smirking down at her as he felt sure he'd caught her finally. She stared up at him, eyes wide. Her arm hurt to the point of becoming numb, and twisted uncomfortably behind her back.

Pain was meant to be second nature to shinobi, but whenever it came, blocking out the burning sensation was just as agonizing as feeling it.

'Holy fuck, I'm going to die.'

A second kick to her side caused her to grunt and roll to the side in an attempt to get away from him. His pale hand reached down and fisted her hair, pulling her upper body up. She kicked and squirmed, only freezing when he ran his nose along her neck and _inhaled._

" _An Uchiha?"_ His voice held the resonating depth of age and Chieko began to squirm again in panic. He let her go, amusing himself as she sat up on her knees and then clumsily to her feet.

" _I like this game."_

Chieko frowned, but before she could ask him what _game_ he was talking about, he knocked her over again, this time bringing a hand down onto the shoulder of her injured arm. This time, she grunted.

'There goes my shoulder.' She felt it dislocate, the burning sensation reaching her collarbone.

" _Why don't you fight? Unless you're a whore…"_

Chieko immediately bit back, nearly snarling at him.

"My arms are bound, _shithead_."

He nudged her with his foot and she glared up at him. He hoisted her up and examined the cuffs.

" _These are Uzumaki design. I cannot break them, hime."_

Sitting very still for a moment, she took her time to put together the bearings of the situation. Her muscles tensed again and she launched her side into the man, her injured arm continuing to burn with pain.

Not that it did much, he simply fell from his squatted position onto his bum and stared at her.

" _You are not fun."_ He spoke dryly. Before Chieko could get onto her feet and sprint towards Mizuki, he was up and brought his hand across her face. Chieko did not as much as grunt, clenching her teeth. She could feel the bruise forming, ready to match the one Tobirama had given her.

Just as her attackers expression twisted into a grin, it twitched and faded to one of shock. His body fell away to the side. Tobirama stood behind him, one fist dripping with blood and bits of flesh. He stared down at Chieko with an expression that was just as unreadable as the others. He flickered and was gone before she could say anything to him. Mizuki was running up to her, the several gashes on his face indicating he'd been caught up in his own little battle.

"Are you okay?" He kneeled down beside her, avoiding stressing her shoulders as he undid the restraints on her wrists.

She groaned in response. "I can't move my arm."

She wiped some of the damp dirt off her face with her functioning hand, the cuffs still heavy on her wrists. Mizuki prodded the injury, watching her flinch as he moved her shoulder, "I think you're entire shoulders been dislocated."

He gently took her injured arm and examined the gash along the forearm, "Nothing I can't heal." He reassured, although Chieko was staring at a figure in the distance, too distracted by the silhouette to respond to Mizuki.

Then he popped her shoulder back into place.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL UZUMAKI-"

"Shut up." His stern tone silenced her, and she was mildly grateful as her arm returned to _feeling._

"Was it you that put me in that bubble of water?"

"I was trying to keep you out of harm's way." He answered quietly, "Try moving your arm now." Turning her head to stare at the freshly healed skin, she gave her arm a shake. The movement sent a sharp sting, but her arm was functioning and was no longer entirely saturated by pain. Her clothes were still drenched and she felt a cold coming on.

"I had that bath you were complaining about." She gave him a tiny smile as he stood up, shoving his hands in his pocket. Chieko followed, bringing up her other arm to give her still-aching arm support. As she held her shoulder in place, Tobirama reappeared beside Mizuki.

"Chieko, are you alright?" He sounded stern, and Chieko observed the shadow that fell across Mizuki's face as he took a step away from the Senju and bowed his head. Chieko nodded, slowly switching between the two.

"I'm sorry, Tobirama-senpai."

"I'll speak to you about this later Mizuki. Go, your sister requires your assitance."

Mizuki threw Chieko a cautionary glance before turning to step away and disappearing with the wind. Chieko watched him go curiously.

"What was he apologizing for?" Tobirama was staring at her when she turned her attention back to him, looking visibly distressed. He scolded her in response, surprised at his own tone.

"It's none of your business, _Uchiha._ "

Chieko blinked at him with wide eyes, a trickle of water running down her forehead as Tobirama realized she was _drenched_. She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, having noticed the scathing use of her clan-name, "I was attacked too, how is it none of my business?"

He said nothing, taking her by the shoulder and tugging her to walk beside him. She pulled away from his touch sharply, her mouth twisting into a scowl before she spoke, "Unless you mean to say this attack was because of my presence here."

Irritated, he ignored her and continued to walk on, his hands now by his side. He could hear her following behind him, aware that she was displeased by his lack of response.

"Well?"

He inhaled sharply and continued walking, leaving Chieko to pause in her own annoyance and then continue to follow him.

"Are you not going to say _anything_?"

"Tell me what it'll take to make you _shut up_ and I'll say it." His voice was cold and his tone revealed just the right amount of venom. He didn't want her to feel like he _hated_ her, but from her silence he realized she probably believed he did.

Suppressing a groan, he reached his hand behind to take hold of her wrist as he tugged her through the throng of gathering clansmen. This part of their camp seemed unaltered by the attack. Even the people seemed unhindered, laughing and chatting callously as they went about their lives.

The feeling of his stinging-warn fingers on her cold, damp skin made her jaw click in irritation. She was tempted to yank her wrist away, but he'd taken hold of her newly-healed arm and she didn't want to disturb the resting muscle.

He was ducking into a familiar looking tent and she followed, her hair falling away from behind her ears.

"Undress back there and give yourself a good scrub. Don't try to run away."

He gestured to the other end of the tent. She didn't look at him and stepped out into a private bathing area. On a clothes line hung familiar items of clothing and she realized that this was probably Tobirama's private accommodation.

All the more mobile camps had something of this sort for shinobi of higher status.

Mumbling angrily to herself, she peeled away the clothing, struggling to slip the tight-fitted undershirt off her injured arm. It refused to budge.

Groaning, she poked her head through the flap into the tent, surprised to see Tobirama sitting on his mat with a pipe in hand, his head gear and armour gone.

"Tobirama."

He seemed surprised, turning his head with an unguarded expression clear on his face, "Eh?"

"Can I have a kunai? My shirt is stuck on my injured shoulder and I can't really raise my arm to take it off."

He stared at her for a moment, reaching under his pillow to pull out a kunai.

'Classic.' She scoffed in her mind, watching him curiously as he walked halfway towards her, pipe in his mouth. He took it in his hand to let out a long stream of smoke, gesturing to her with a nod of his head.

"Come here."

Chieko blinked, and stepped into the tent. She had only removed the dark haori she wore over the tight-fitted under-armour she usually wore and she was glad she hadn't undone her pants. Her bare feet felt cold on the dry, hardened earth beneath her. Tobirama was unfazed by her, not even glancing at the revealed figure of her waist and her hips, although, as he put the pipe back in his mouth he noted the smooth, hour-glass shaped curves from his periphery.

When she was standing before him, he left the pipe to smoulder between his lips, thin streams of smoke escaping his mouth and his nostrils. Chieko hadn't smoked since the attack on her in the woods, she appreciated the scent of tobacco. It was familiar to her.

Angry as she was, she couldn't find it in her to pull her eyes away from him. She studied Tobirama's face as he reached up with his free hand to pick the neckline off her collarbone. He fingers felt cold against her skin now, and she couldn't control the shiver. His eyes flicked up to hers, guarded and serious. The metal of the kunai pierced the neckline first and then went cleanly through the cloth to just below her shoulder. Tobirama could feel the shape of her breast beneath the blade of the metal and was careful not to cut her skin. It didn't help that she was staring at his face.

His eyes flicked to hers _again_ and she finally glanced away, staring at his hand as he tugged the cloth away from her shoulder and cleanly took off the entire sleeve, leaving the skin beneath her collarbone right back to her shoulder blade open to the air. His kunai-wielding hand dropped away from her and the other went to the pipe. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, hazing his view of Chieko as he stepped away from her, eyes fixed intently on her through the smoke.

They both stood watching each other's bleary forms through the fading smoke a moment longer than they should have.

Chieko inhaled the smoke, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat as she wordlessly turned away and stepped out into the bathing area, leaving Tobirama watching after her with the same heavy-set seriousness in his eyes.

'I can't believe he thinks this is my fault.'

She felt like an intruder as she stepped into the wooden basin, the water a little too hot for her liking. The wound on her arm that had begun to heal, stung slightly. Her arm was still sore so she had to use one hand to scrub her body, working quickly and efficiently.

As she dunked her head underwater, tears stung her eyes as she came back up.

She was too proud to say she was afraid. She was too proud to admit that Tobirama was her only remaining sense of security.

"I need to be my sense of security." She muttered, feeling chaffed at her increasing emotional weakness.

Tobirama heaved a sigh as he stretched his legs out and lay flat on the mat. His eyes felt heavy, and his heart was still hammering from the thought of losing his student and this prisoner.

He rolled onto his side and stared at the thick material of the tent.

' _What were they doing in our compound?'_

There had been only three attackers, two had gone for him and his brother, while the other had attacked Chieko.

' _They were after her.'_

It was entirely plausible that the Uchiha had sent them on some sort of suicide mission. Tobirama snorted. He could imagine Madara saying something along the lines of 'Attack them and let yourselves die if Chieko is there. If she isn't, prioritize escape.'

' _That man is mad, I wouldn't put it past him.'_

Just as moved to lie on his back, Chieko stepped into the tent, her hair damp still. She was dressed in a slightly large, loose blue kimono-blouse that he'd salvaged for her and the trousers fit her perfectly, ending above her ankles. She peered down at him, squinting her eyes to make out whether his eyes were open.

"How bad is your eyesight?" He asked casually, putting his hands beneath his head, not bothering to sit up in her presence.

"Not _that_ bad." She mumbled in response, turning away from him to sit on the little stool by a low table. He didn't miss the sudden quietness in her voice, she was upset.

"I don't think this attack was your fault, Chieko." He watched her out of the corner of his eye and saw her roll her eyes.

"Sure."

Frowning, he sat up and cracked his neck, the sound making her flinch.

' _Kami, what is it going to take?'_

Turning his head to watch her, he realized further to his chagrin that she was avoiding him.

"Help me remove this."

Surprised, her eyes travelled slowly and cautiously to the Senju who had begun undoing the straps of his armour. His shirt was still stained with blood. She cringed at the sight, and hoisted herself up to trudge over to him.

She kneeled behind his back and nimbly worked the straps loose from his opposite shoulder. When she was done working the other strap that went from his back to his chest, Tobirama was still fumbling with the shoulder strap.

"How are you men so terrible at this?" She mumbled, swatting his hand away to work the strap loose. He peered at her pale hands, concealing the gentle smile that threatened to make its way onto his face. When she moved to undo the last strap, it didn't budge.

"Oh no, it's stuck." Genuinely annoyed, she ducked her head to tug the leather loose with her teeth, holding Tobirama's arm up with her uninjured hand. Amused, he let out a puff of air as he watched her. When the strap came loose, she grinned and unbuckled it, sitting back on her ankles to let Tobirama hoist the armour over his head and toss it to the side.

"Thank you."

"No worries." She whispered, moving to stand up.

Tobirama stilled for a moment as the warmth of her body left with her. He realized how he was unused to having people so close to him in non-combat situations. It made him curious, he ducked his head in embarrassment, quickly controlling the rush of blood to his face. He loudly cleared his throat

"Why are you upset?" His voice felt suddenly thick and heavy and as Chieko sat back on the stool, her eyes were wide with interest.

"I am not."

He raised his eyebrows at her, "You know you're a terrible liar right?"

Exasperated, she glanced away from him and then back, "It's really complicated to explain."

"Try me."

The determination in his voice surprised both of them. She looked down at her feet, tracing the silvery scars over her skin with her fingers.

"You're my only source of security at the moment." She mumbled begrudgingly.

"We established that already. Does that upset you?" He watched her unblinkingly.

"You accusing me of being the cause of this attack upsets me."

"I never said anything about that." He was irritated by her assumption-making.

"You didn't have to." She snapped, annoyed at his feigned lack of understanding.

He leaned forward, uncrossing his arms to rest them on his knees. "You make too many assumptions, _Uchiha._ "

Her head snapped up to glare at him, "Stop acting like you weren't angry at me!"

The defensiveness in her raised voice sent a rage through his veins that he hadn't felt before.

"I was afraid somebody would _kill_ you." He bit back, his voice stern and his eyebrows furrowed. She could make out the veins in his forehead, giving away how tense his body was.

Her mouth parted and she leaned back as he suddenly stood up, his shoulders squared. He took a step towards her, head bent to glare down at her.

He stood before her for a few seconds, just staring down at her, noticing the fear in her wide-rimmed eyes. He reached down to tuck his fingers beneath her chin and nudge her mouth shut. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pulled her chin away, "Don't touch me."

She barely measured up to his waist, sitting on the low stool. It left her level with a rather awkward part of his body, and that was causing her cheeks to set aflame.

As she pulled her head away, he crouched down in front of her and tilted his head, his stoic expression breaking into one of amusement.

"You cut your hair." He observed.

Chieko refused to look at him, keeping her gaze fixed to the far left of his head.

"It looks nice."

His lip twitched momentarily into a smile as he stood and strode quickly out of the tent. Her head snapped back to his departing form. Her cheeks bright and hot.

She nervously ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip.


	24. Hypnophobia

... _Finally._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Fingers furrowed into her hair, Chieko continued to stare at the entrance to the tent.

'What am I supposed to do _now_?'

Glancing around at the scarcity of belongings, her eyes landed on the tatami mat and the creases on the dark green blanket that were left behind after Tobirama had laid on it.

Wearily, the exhaustion of the past week crept up her spine, tempting her to crawl under the thin blanket and rest.

'No way.'

She stood and stretched, annoyed at the weight of the stone cuffs still on her arms. Her legs ached.

'Maybe a few minutes won't hurt.'

Slowly trudging to the mat, she kneeled beside it and tugged the blanket away, crawling into the space between it and the mat. The pillow was thin but well stuffed, cushioning her head so comfortably that she missed her mother's lap.

As she pulled the blanket up to cover her, she took in a deep breath to dispel all the thoughts on her mind. Her olfactory senses were greeted by the vague scent of lemongrass, lavender and something slightly musky and masculine. Her eyelids fluttered shut and shot open, as she dropped off to sleep too quickly she felt herself falling into an abyss and she sat up, cupping her face and laying back down. She stared at the ceiling of the tent, her vision darkening as she dosed off, mouth slightly parted.

In her dreams, she felt the warmth of an orange glow and the metallic stench of death and blood all around her. It faded, and she was in a bubble of softly glowing orange, a shield. She felt its chakra burning her skin, crackling through her cells and permeating the stone cuffs. In her dreams, this orange bubble morphed into bones all round her, making her its heart. She was alive and breathing, and powerful.

Groaning, she rolled over and the dream was gone, fading into the hollows of her mind to be forgotten momentarily. The inside of the tent was now dark, and when Tobirama returned, he didn't spare her sleeping form a glance and strode past her to take a bath. He had expected her to want to sleep on something comfortable.

His mind was pressed on more important matters, and he felt his chest slowly constricting with that ravaging sense of anxiety that fought back against his sense of calm every now and then.

Inhaling the steam from the fresh water, he watched the reflection of the red sky bob rhythmically over the surface before he climbed into the tub. Sinking down until the water was up to the bridge of his nose, he stared up at the darkening red, wishing he could peacefully marvel at its beauty as it bled into a dark purple. He took his time, slowly cleansing his body and taking the passing moments to push old memories from his mind. He had been awake for three days.

This war was beginning to take its toll on him, the exhaustion had caused his arms to quiver from weakness today as he held something out for his brother. The observable shaking had set him on edge, and his brother had ordered him to rest.

As he stepped out of the tub, water dripped from his shaggy hair down to his toes. His eyes burned in anticipation of rest and perhaps from the tears attempting to make their way to the surface. Towelling his body, he ignored the sensation in his eyes as he wrapped the long coarse cloth around his waist and snuck silently into the tent to fetch his clothes. He was careful to be quiet, listening to the sound of Chieko's soft breathing in an attempt to anchor himself to the present.

The Uchiha lay on her side, her back to the rest of the tent. He sighed.

' _I'll have to get another mat for myself.'_

Running a hand through his hair, he walked back out to hang up the towel and pull on his drawers, tiredly pulling up the waistband of his pyjamas right after. He lazily scratched his chest, walking back into the tent and unrolling a spare mat from beside the chest that held his belongings.

'…'

He didn't have a blanket and the night's chill was beginning to set in.

Narrowing his eyes at Chieko, he grumbled and leaned across to open the chest and feel for a warm shirt. He let the lid drop noisily just after he yanked it out, unceremoniously pulling it on. He didn't check if it was inside-out.

Chieko didn't budge from the sound. He paused for a moment with his eyes set on her gently rising shoulder.

' _She's sleeping on her injured arm.'_

He questioned whether he should roll her over, quickly dispelling the thought from his mind.

He had kept a few inches between their mats and moved to retrieve his kunai, crouching over her sleeping form to pry it from underneath the pillow. He was monitoring his breathing, timing it with hers in an attempt to quell the panic in his chest.

' _Bothersome witch.'_

She rolled onto his arm, her eyes fluttering open as she mumbled incoherently.

A single drop of water dripped from his hair onto her forehead, right between her eyebrows and her eyes shot open.

' _Great.'_

Chieko held her breath, greeted by the silence in the tent, her arms wrapped defensively around her chest as Tobirama peered at her from over her side.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, her voice crusty, her eyes squinted at him trying to discern his blurry form.

"I…I was getting my kunai out." He couldn't help but sound sheepish, "Also you're in my bed."

Chieko remained silent, and the two seemed frozen. She could make out the shaggy form of his hair, and as she finally inhaled, she realized the musky scent from the bed was _his._ He pulled the weapon out and sat back onto his mat, shoving it unceremoniously under his pillow and laying down with his back to her.

She swallowed, and the sound was _very_ audible. It also didn't help that she could hear his slightly laboured breath. Peering at his dark form, she reached out a hand and felt the space between his shoulder blades.

"You don't have a blanket?"

"I don't need one." He responded, his voice soft but not entirely a whisper.

She let her hand rest beside him before decisively sitting up and pulling the blanket off. She lifted it up to lay it over him, and the flutter of the blanket sent him on edge.

He wasn't entirely sure why the sound had frightened him, he could only assume he was falling into a deep slumber when he'd heard it and his anxiety hadn't helped.

Quicker than lightning, he had fisted the blanket and pinned Chieko to the ground, straddling her abdomen with his hips, his knees digging into her sides, with the blanket held between both his hands and over her neck, into a threatening choke.

Chieko gasped in fright, her cold hands gripping his wrists.

"I was going to lay it over you!" She bit defensively, whispering in the stillness of the tent.

Tobirama's breath was heavy and he exhaled as she spoke, nearly gasping as he stared momentarily into darkness, his vision blurring.

All he could hear ringing in his ears, was the scream of Itama when he'd died.

Growling in frustration, he released the blanket and yanked his wrist out of her grip as he punched the ground to the left of Chieko's head, ripping the mat slightly. She winced, shooting away only for her nose to painfully collide with his other arm.

"T..Tobirama, are you okay?" The fear in her made her voice quiver.

She could see his teeth bared in the dark, pale forms where his mouth was. He was panting heavily and ducked his head, bringing his forehead down onto the nook between her collarbone and her neck.

He was gasping heavily into her ear, trying to bring himself back to the present.

Behind his eyelids he saw the flashes of orange and red, he thought he could smell burning wood, and suddenly he could see the pale sickly moonlight and the body of a woman. His eyes shot open as Chieko put a shaky hand over the nape of his neck, curling her fingers into his hair.

"You're here, with me. You're okay, we're safe. You're safe. Hashirama is safe."

He whispered something into her ear, his voice muffled by the material of her top.

"What?" She whispered back, afraid to move.

He turned his head slightly until his lips met the soft conch of her ear.

" _I'm sorry."_

Pained as his voice was, it took some time until Chieko mustered the courage to bring her other arm to rub gentle circles into his other arm. He was still straddling her, his hips nearly pressing her abdomen into the mat.

He pushed away from her and sat onto the space between their mats, Chieko sitting up to follow. She let her knees rest by her side as she leant towards him, "Are you alright? Should I get you some water?"

"No."

Blinking, she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. Her brother was visited frequently by such panic attacks.

Tentatively, she brought her hand to his back and gently rubbed circles between his shoulder blades.

"I literally only want to sleep peacefully." He mumbled, his head drooping.

"I know…" She reached under him to tug the mat, "Here."

Stumbling slightly, he sat up to let her pull the mat closer to hers.

"Lie down on your side, not your back."

She remembered that her brother's nightmares were always worse if he lay straight on his back. It made people vulnerable to sleep paralysis, especially when they were exhausted.

He blindly followed her instructions, his obedience mildly worrying. Chieko had to bring his pillow to rest properly beneath his head. He lay with his back to her, and Chieko brought the blanket over his body, making sure to do it as quietly as possible.

What she did next took more courage for her than anything she'd done up till now.

She lay beside him and put an arm over his chest, not quiet reaching all the way around his upper body. She snuggled her face into the nape of neck, gently breathing over his skin, her nose in his hair.

She couldn't tell if he'd stiffened, but after what felt to be an hour, his breathing evened out and he had fallen asleep. In the absence of a blanket, his body was enough to keep her warm.

At some point through the night, she had rolled away and woken up to the cold. Rubbing her arms, she sat up.

Tobirama was lying with his arms beneath his head, watching her in the dark.

He realized that she hadn't noticed he was awake, and as she lay down, she snuggled closer to his body. He pulled the blanket off his body and draped it over hers, rubbing her arm gently and almost _endearingly._ It made Chieko stiffen.

"Don't sleep on this arm or it'll hurt tomorrow."

His voice, although dusted with sleep, sounded more awake. Chieko moved away from him, finding the increasing closeness between them irksome. She recalled the gentle brush of his lips against her ear as he'd apologized.

"Are you alright now?"

"I think so."

She hummed, not entirely sure if she wanted to fall back to sleep yet, "Happens to a lot of people, even me."

"I know."

As silence fell between them again, she realized his hand was still resting on her arm.

'Maybe he likes the physical proximity.' She recalled the several times her brother had held her hand in his sleep.

He'd moved away from her again and she had to bite her lip to prevent herself from disagreeing with his departure.

He was sitting up and stretching his arms over his head.

"Can I ask you something, Chieko?"

"Sure?"

"Why did you think I was accusing you earlier?"

She bit her lip for a moment, "You don't like my clan, and I have the same blood…" She trailed off, sounding rather dumb to herself. He scoffed and turned to peer at her.

"The sun won't rise for another good seven hours."

"Eh?" The fact seemed irrelevant and Chieko blinked slowly and tiredly, her eyelids suddenly feeling heavy.

"Sit up." He prodded her with his hand, poking her forehead. She groaned, sitting up as the blanket fell away from her shoulders onto her lap.

The loose top exposed a larger area of her chest, her skin glinting in the dark.

"What the hell do you want Tobirama?"

"I want to know if you can forgive me."

She reeled momentarily, "For what?"

"This."

Unexpectedly, his hand came to her face and his fingers brushed the bruise he'd given her over her cheekbone, when he'd slapped her.

"I hurt you."

Chieko found no words, nor the courage to summon any as his fingers lingered over her skin. He stroked her cheek.

"…You're trying to apologize?"

He withdrew his hand, smiling at her in the dark as an odd contentedness settled over him. "In a way, yes."

"Why?"

"…You don't like it when I touch you." He explained. Chieko frowned, confused at the irrelevant and somewhat incorrect observation.

"That's not true, Tobirama."

"It is."

"No it isn't, I don't." This time, Chieko couldn't keep the huskiness from her voice and Tobirama didn't miss it either.

"Are you sure?" He whispered, intrepidly, feeling a different kind of tightening his chest.

"What is this about?" She bit out impatiently, her voice lowering to an irritated whisper.

An awkward silence fell over them _again._ Annoyed, impatient and irritated from being roused from her sleep, Chieko felt a sense of daring and fieriness possess her.

"I-" Before Tobirama could finish his sentence, Chieko moved to rest her palms on his shoulders, now kneeling in front of him, her face slightly above his.

"What makes you think I don't like it?" She whispered cautiously, her voice nervous.

He peered up at her, grateful for the increasing moonlight over the tent. He could see the gentle curve of her nose and her cheeks, her silvery eyes glinting down at him with something different.

He swallowed thickly, feeling very still and very immobilized.

She shuffled closer, her knees now on either side of his hips. She didn't bring herself to sit on his lap just yet.

"Touch me." She whispered, her hands winding into his hair. He could feel the blush spreading to his neck and his ears as his hands came to rest on her waist.

The material of her blouse was thin and her skin was burning up beneath it.

"See? Am I lashing out at you?" She whispered again, tilting her head as she teased him. Tobirama wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment, a sense of anticipation perhaps.

' _A sense of relief.'_ He corrected, he wasn't sure how long he could keep away the urge to _do_ things to this woman.

He felt something wake within him and his grip on her waist became stronger, his hands moving to her hips gently, stroking her skin through the material.

' _This witch…'_ He mused, his mouth parting into a smirk. He could see her eyes watching his lips at the movement, flickering back to his rose orbs with curiosity.

"How much do you not dislike it?" He tossed back at her, noticing the twitch of a smile flutter onto her lips. He jerked her down onto his lap, satisfied at the way she gasped.

"Y..You…" Her stammering made his heart quicken, now their faces were level, noses brushing.

He could feel his breath mingling with hers, the distinct scent of his soap on her set him veering into an aggressively protective grip around her hips.

"I don't not like it at all." She managed, her lips brushing his as she spoke. Their eyes never moved away from each other's.

He brought a hand to rest on her lower back, while the other went beneath her thigh, tucking her leg around his waist as he hoisted her up and down onto the mat, hovering over her. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the exposed skin of the centre of her chest. The sound of a very pleased, long exhale sent the blood rushing to his manhood.

Something other than physical desire was spurning him on.

He owed this woman.

He kissed her again, just below her collarbone.

She swallowed, her mouth clamped shut and her fingers gripping his shoulders.

He ghosted his lips over her collarbone, brushing gently along the length of them, revelling in the quickening rise and fall of her chest beneath his mouth. He glanced up at her, her eyes fluttering.

He rose again, but her legs had gone around his waist and kept him pinned to her.

"I liked that." She whispered, her eyes shut.

"So you don't dislike it?"

"Not at all."

' _I should just-'_ Tobirama's trail of thought was thrown wildly off skew when her hands found the collar of his shirt and pulled him down, her lips aggressively meeting his.

He melted against her, his hand fisting roughly into her hair as he attacked her soft lips.

They would break away only to watch each other's gasping forms, before attacking again, to see who would give in first.

As he pressed down into her, he felt her cold hands slide beneath his shirt and over his stomach, sending a mad shiver through his body. Like his notorious speed, the shirt was off and tossed away, his hands taking her wrists to pin them by her head as he leant further into her.

Both of them could feel each other's hearts hammering away on either side of their ribcages.

Their eyes met, and they paused their lovemaking to watch each other with fascination, curiosity and confusion.

Tobirama felt his lips twitch into a smile and leant down to press them gently against hers, albeit firmly. His hands slipped from her wrists into her palms and tangled his fingers with hers.

Pulling away from her, he rolled off of her and into the empty space beside her, arms still pressed together as both gasped for breath.

Her hand found his, gently knitting their fingers as she tried to calm her heart.

He ran his free hand through his hair and let out a short laugh, "I've always wanted to do that."

"Kiss the enemy?" She teased, a grin breaking onto her face.

"Exactly."


End file.
